death by hope
by freddie loves frodo
Summary: the next in the series, sequel to when the three meet the nine. Lots of action and some scary moments. also fellowship.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Lord of the Rings.  
  
Ch1 Funeral  
  
The procession of cars went slowly through the village streets. Every so often they would stop to allow people walking along the road to wave their sorrow to the family. It had all happened so fast, no one had really expected to find the girl alive after so long but everyone hoped. The family had hoped but in their hearts they knew there was no chance of finding her alive.  
  
It had been almost two weeks since the three students had been found in a deserted part of the New Forest. It had taken the police this long to try and figure out what had happened. They had searched the entire place and looked at every bit of evidence, including Ned's body but at first they could find nothing, until one of the surviving girls, Bob, had told them there were two other bodies in the Forest. One was a ranger who died trying to help them; the other was a man the police had been looking for for several years Frank.  
  
Unfortunately neither Bob or Fred had been fit to talk for several days after they were found. Fred had been so badly injured that she couldn't make a statement and Bob had been found in great shock and even when she did tell them what happened it was clearly nonsense. She had spoke of little people and evil wizards, the things of fairytales rather than fact.  
  
Eventually Fred had been able to speak to the police and had told them what happened. Frank, the criminal had been hiding in his hut when Bob, Fred and Ned had found the hut. Thinking it was a place of safety they went inside where Frank had taken them hostage. He had stabbed Ned with some kind of poisoned blade and then tortured Fred. Bob had managed to get them both free before he could hurt her too much.  
  
After a few days the ranger, Paul found them and tried to help them but Frank stabbed him. Paul had managed to cut Frank's throat and had passed out. In fear Bob and Fred had hidden the body and helped the two injured people into the woods to find their way out. Paul had died quite quickly and Ned had died later, which was when both collapsed from exhaustion and waited until the search party found them.  
  
It wasn't a great explanation but the public demand to solve the case had made it so the police had accepted the theory and put an end to the case.  
  
Bob and Fred knew that that wasn't the truth. Of course Frank had been a murderer and Paul had been a ranger but the rest of it was fake. Bob had at first tried to explain to them about Middle Earth and how they escaped from Orthanc and how Fred had been brutally tortured by the evil wizard Saruman. The police had called her mad and got her to see a psychologist. They had moved on to Fred and she had told them the 'truth'.  
  
Now the investigation was all over and the opinion was that the evil Frank had killed Ned and Paul and tortured both the surviving girls. People had easily accepted this and ignored Bob's instance that she was telling the truth about the Middle Earth incident.  
  
It was the day of the funeral and neither Bob or Fred were looking forward to it. Fred had been advised that she should stay in the hospital and watch it on the television but she had been outraged and insisted that she would be there in person at her friend's funeral. Bob had been the same. Although her injuries weren't as bad as Fred's she was still not ready to go walking about in the cold and rain but like her friend she insisted she be there. No one was going to stop them.  
  
Now they rode in the black limousine in the procession and looked out of the black tinted windows into the slight drizzle making everything seem even more grey and dull. Fred was just sitting there not even moving but Bob couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous for some reason. She didn't understand it. Maybe it was just because this was the last time she would get to say goodbye to her friend.  
  
Both were deep in thought and didn't even consider talking to one another. Fred had been extremely quiet ever since she had been rescued from the forest. Not that anyone blamed her, after all both of them had been through a lot and many people had sent their deepest sympathies but the two still hadn't make an official public appearance.  
  
Fred was thinking about everything that happened, she had tried to forget but those horrors just wouldn't leave her mind. The torture, the smell of Orthanc, the fear, the doubt and the worst thing of all the deaths of two people she cared about. David had died saving her life and Ned had died protecting Frodo. She wished she could tell someone about this but there was no one that she trusted enough or that would believe her, except Bob of course.  
  
Bob was thinking very much the same thing. Even after three weeks she had not been able to shift those feelings she had when Fred was in Orthanc. Her visions never came back but the thought of what had happened was still there. Strangely she could still feel that intense fear that Fred had sent her. She could also still feel it off Fred. Every time something moved unexpectedly Fred jumped. If something was out of place or irregular then Fred got edgy. Bob couldn't blame her, for the first week she was the same. Fred had been through a lot and all Bob could do was help her.  
  
The service had been held earlier in the church that Ned always went to. Bob had said something that she had prepared. The whole congregation had listened intently when she had begun.  
  
"I have been asked to say something about Ned. I have been thinking about this for a while and I have decided that there is very little I can say that you don't already know. Ned was a good friend and I know that she had many friends that are here in this church today. I only met her a few years ago and in that time we've had both good and bad times but we always remained friends. No matter what happened Ned could make you laugh, even when you were angry with her.  
  
"Ned would have wanted us to be happy today, but how can we when she's not here with us? It's quite simple really. We should be happy that she is no longer suffering and that she is at rest. Probably making all the angels up there laugh." Bob's voice began to tremble slightly so she stopped and closed her eyes before looking to Fred sat in the front row. Fred smiled and nodded her encouragement. "Ned saved us, I have no doubt about that. We owe her everything. She was brave and she kept us laughing right up until the end. We will all miss Ned. I know I will but we should remember all the good times we had rather than the bad times."  
  
Bob had looked out into the crowd and smiled before turning to the closed coffin and smiling.  
  
Now it was the part both girls had been dreading. The burial. The procession came to a halt outside the gate to the graveyard. People began to get out of the cars slowly as if a mark of respect. Almost everyone was wearing black including Bob and Fred. Slowly people made their way down the path towards the rectangular hole in the ground. Ned's coffin was at the front being carried slowly by people dressed in black with top hats.  
  
Bob and Fred got out of their car and followed down the path. Bob allowed Fred to grip her arm for support, something they had become used to doing the past few weeks. They walked with their eyes staring at the coffin wishing that this wasn't happening.  
  
They finally reached the grave and looked at all the people holding their clean white handkerchiefs to their faces. Bob and Fred couldn't help thinking how much Ned would have hated all of this.  
  
They were allowed to the front by some of the family friends who had known Ned only a short time and met only at Christmas and birthdays. Bob and Fred watched silently as Ned's coffin was lowered into the ground and the priest said the last few words. For a moment everyone stood there not believing what was happening. This was the end. Slowly people began walking away, leaving behind only the few that wanted to say a private goodbye.  
  
Soon Bob and Fred were the only two left standing next to the open grave. The other people had gone off into their cars and gone back to someone's house to drown their sorrows in booze.  
  
Bob stood silently looking at the wooden box as if something was going to happen to it, which they both knew wouldn't. Ned could get out of a lot of things but she couldn't defy death. They silently remembered everything that had happened in the New Forest and in Middle Earth.  
  
After a while Fred said,  
  
"This is all my fault. She would still be alive if it wasn't for me."  
  
"You know that's not true." Bob said comfortingly putting an arm around her friend's shoulders. "None of this was your fault. If anything it was mine, I was the one who forced you two into saving the Hobbits."  
  
Fred shook her head. "I don't suppose we should be blaming ourselves but it's hard not to. Ned didn't deserve to die. That's something I never thought I'd hear myself say." Fred's attempt at humour didn't even amuse her.  
  
The wind picked up slightly as an attempt to make them feel worse than they already did. They could see very little through the rain now falling on their black clothes. Bob was a little anxious. Fred had been unwell for some time and it probably wasn't a good idea for either of them to be out in this kind of weather.  
  
"I wish I'd never ran into the forest that night. Remember the pony?" Fred said almost laughing.  
  
"How could I forget? You know, Ned found that so funny."  
  
"I bet she did. That's so like her, laughing when I get scared. I can't believe I was so stupid."  
  
"You can't change the past Fred no matter how hard you try. You can wish all you like but you know it won't come true." The irony of this comment wasn't lost on either of them.  
  
Fred nodded still looking into the grave wishing that none of this was happening. She couldn't help but feel guilty no matter what Bob said. It was her fault. She had gotten caught and Bob had to rescue her instead of helping Ned. Now she couldn't believe how stupid she'd been getting frightened over a horse was far better than killing your friend and getting tortured in a fictional planet.  
  
Bob was also thinking about what happened, she believed she was responsible for what happened. If only she hadn't done that stitching and performed some proper first aid on Ned instead of believing her when she said she was alright. Bob didn't believe for a second that Ned would have died if she had been there.  
  
Both looked at the grave thinking about their friend and what they could do. Finally Bob broke the uneasy silence. She threw her rose onto the brown coffin and said a quiet goodbye to Ned. Fred reluctantly did the same. She smiled at the coffin in a final farewell. Both stood for a moment longer before turning around and going towards the limousine that was waiting for them.  
  
When inside Bob stared out of the window. Fred soon noticed the tears running down Bob's face. She touched her friend's shoulder. Bob looked around and smiled at Fred whilst wiping the tears away.  
  
"It's been a long day huh?" Fred nodded waiting for Bob to say something else. "I just can't believe we'll never see her again. None of this seems real. You know, like it's a dream." Fred nodded again.  
  
"We always thought that nothing would ever happen to our group. We were wrong. Ned did all these crazy things, walking on hot coals, skydiving, bungee jumping and nothing ever happened to her. One day out in the forest and she gets hurt. This guy Frank found her weakness. He killed her, nothing else. We always thought she was indestrucable or something but she wasn't she was human and now she's gone and I know it's hard to accept but it's true and there's nothing we can do about it.  
  
"It still feels like she's alive but she's already dead. You know that."  
  
Bob nodded slowly. She looked across at Fred and smiled sadly. "You're right. She's gone and there's nothing we can do to change the past, no matter how much we want to. It looks like it's just you and me now."  
  
"And Mark." Fred corrected her.  
  
"And Mark." Bob said quietly. "I didn't see him at the funeral, did you?"  
  
"No. He probably didn't want to get in the way you know Mark."  
  
"I guess. It just seemed strange that he wouldn't go, he knew Ned almost as well as we did. I just thought I'd see him that's all."  
  
Fred nodded. "Maybe he didn't want to say goodbye like that." Fred suggested.  
  
"You're probably right." Bob said. "I don't know about you but I'll be glad to get home."  
  
"You mean back to the hospital for me? I hate it there. I wish I was back at school." Fred said.  
  
"I know what you mean. My mum won't let me go back to school yet either, she insists it's too soon."  
  
"Did she find out about Marie? I completely forgot to ask."  
  
"No. I didn't tell anyone. No one seemed to care how we got out there so I kept quiet. I hope you didn't mind."  
  
"No I didn't say anything either."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Hey, how could I? You sister helped us, we were the ones that caused the trouble, its got nothing to do with her." Bob smiled at Fred.  
  
"Do they have any idea when you can go home? I really don't feel like going back to school on my own. You know how awful it is losing someone."  
  
Fred looked down at her hands and smiled sadly.  
  
Bob realised instantly what she had said. "Fred, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. After everything that's been happening lately with you and the police I completely forgot about David. I know you loved him."  
  
"Yeah. But there's nothing I can do to bring him back so let's talk about something else. Please."  
  
"Sure." Bob sighed. She'd really forgotten about David. However, now she was reminded that memory came back. Watching him go up in flames like that was terrifying. What was worse was that he had done it all for Fred. Bob couldn't imagine what that felt like. She had tried to talk to her friend about it but Fred had said nothing making up some excuse like she was tired. The police wouldn't have asked her about it as they had no idea that David even existed.  
  
They soon reached the hospital and Fred got out of her door, eager to escape the cramped car. She stood at the door and said goodbye to Bob.  
  
"I'll come and see you soon. I promise." Bob said as Fred turned away.  
  
"Okay. Don't be too long. You know how boring it gets in here with no one to talk to."  
  
"Yeah." Bob shouted back.  
  
She watched Fred be met by a nurse and a doctor and sit down in a wheel chair they had ready for her and she got back into the car and the driver went on his way. Bob really didn't want to go to this party thing after. She couldn't understand why people would care about finger food when someone had just died.  
  
She told the driver her address and asked him to take her there instead of the party. All she wanted to do was sleep. Ever since she had been taken back from Middle Earth she had constantly felt tired, even after days of rest. The doctors said she just needed to relax, hard to do when your friend has died and the other is unwell.  
  
There was something else to it though. She couldn't quite understand it. She couldn't help thinking that it was because of the power she had been given by Gandalf. When he had given it to her she had felt so strong and powerful and now she felt like a normal person. She was sure that she was suffering some sort of withdrawal from this power.  
  
In a way she wanted it back. The feeling of being superior to everything and everyone else was incredible and she wanted to feel that again no matter what it took. She had tried to drive these feelings out of her mind, hoping they would go away eventually but they hadn't. That feeling when she had defeated Saruman had been overwhelming and she had loved it.  
  
It was the first time she had ever wanted Gandalf around. She wanted his power again. In a way she was afraid of what she was feeling. The need for that power was always in her thoughts and she couldn't avoid it. At the same time she wanted to get rid of them and make things normal again, she might even be able to put those terrible images of Fred being tortured behind her. She still had flashbacks of those images even after three weeks. The feeling of having her eye poked out was too much and she could still feel it sometimes, she wasn't sure whether it was Fred doing it now or her own mind, either way she didn't like it. She got the feeling that Fred still didn't know she was doing it in Orthanc.  
  
Bob remembered what she had thought when she had first seen her friend being thrown into the room before Saruman. The terrified look on her face when she had seen her. Bob couldn't forget what she had done to Fred. Sticking pieces of sharp metal into her hands would have made her frightened.  
  
She remembered Fred saying at the time that it wasn't her fault and that she had no choice but she hadn't spoken to Fred about it since. She didn't want to bring up those bad memories again.  
  
She thought back to when she had seen Fred lying in hospital the night after her operation, only a day after being discovered in the forest. Fred was sleeping whilst Bob sat at her side not knowing what to do. She had a large bandage over her left eye and her right one, when open, was blood shot. She had cuts all over her face as well as large bruises. She had the deep red marks on her back where Saruman's Orc's had whipped her. The numerous cuts, bruises and marks had made her almost unrecognisable the first time Bob had saw her properly.  
  
When she had been able to talk she was so dosed up on painkillers that she hadn't been able to say anything sensible. However, when she spoke to the police she made perfect sense and had said everything Bob had told her. Bob had come up with the story of Frank and Fred had just filled in the details. Both had told the same story and everything was closed after that.  
  
Luckily Fred's father had said nothing about the Fellowship or Aragorn although he had told his daughter. Apparently he didn't think the police would believe his story anyway so what was the point in telling the real truth.  
  
All of this was great but what really amazed Bob was that when she had went to the doctor in the hospital he had told her that someone had put an excellent dressing on her wound. Bob couldn't believe it. There was Fred, just come back from being tortured almost to death in Orthanc and then getting up and helping Bob with her now insignificant wound.  
  
Bob smiled at the thought and brought herself back to her senses when she realised she was home. She got out of the car and thanked the driver. She walked to her front door and looked up at the sky, which was now turning blue, and the sun was slowly coming out. She smiled and walked into her house. 


	2. confessions

Disclaimer: I own nothing created by Tolkien at all so don't ask.  
  
Ch 2 Confessions  
  
Fred was lying comfortably in bed watching the nurses go past smiling at the fact that it was nearly the end of the shift. Fred wished she could leave the hospital at the end of the day but at the same time didn't want to move away from its safety. She was still on quite a few painkillers but at least she made sense now instead of talking in riddles. Bob hadn't understood a word of what she had said the first day she came to visit her.  
  
Now Fred was getting better although she still thought she'd fall if she had to go too far without aid. She was also plagued by those awful nightmares that wouldn't go away no matter what she did. Every time she closed her eyes she could see the image of David burning in her head. Each time it was so real and she really believed it was happening. Strangely she could only vaguely remember when she was awake which she didn't understand.  
  
The other thoughts were still fresh in her memory though, being locked in the cell. Being tortured by Saruman, and most vividly of all, being locked in that box whilst surrounded by bugs crawling all over her. It was sometimes too much for her and she almost believed that it was just a nightmare and that it didn't really happen. The image of Bob nailing her in with those old, rusty bits of sharp metal was too vivid for her and she wished she could get rid of those terrible thoughts.  
  
**  
  
Bob had the same nightmares about Fred's psychic images. Seeing what they did to her over and over again in her dreams was disturbing enough but she could also feel it. Just like she had done in the New Forest when she had first seen Fred's torture. She also kept seeing the moment when David died. She couldn't help but feel responsible for his death. He had killed himself to save both of them but she knew she could have done it and saved Fred a lot of grief.  
  
It was strange because Bob had hardly known David for an hour and yet she felt deeply sorry that he was dead. She assumed it was just because him and Fred had been truly in love and she was her friend. She refused to believe that it was anything else.  
  
She had had no choice but to let him do it. She had to help Fred get out and they probably needed her power anyway. They would have died without it. On the other hand she could have easily destroyed that Orb. It probably wouldn't have even killed her. Maybe she would just have been stuck in Middle Earth, which was better than killing someone her friend loved.  
  
The most annoying thing about it was that she knew that things would have been worse if she had done it. She didn't understand this but she felt it even though she couldn't explain what it meant she knew it made sense.  
  
Bob knew that she could never tell Fred any of this but she had an overwhelming urge to tell her. She glanced at her watch. 2 P.M. She could go to the hospital and see Fred. It had been a while since they had really properly talked. After all Fred was always saying that it helped to talk about things. That was the reason Bob had agreed to go and see the counsellor after the 'incident'. That and the fact that they had to make sure that everyone believed their story.  
  
Bob decided to go and see Fred at the hospital. Her friend would appreciate the company and they could talk properly for the first time in ages. The last time they had seen each other was almost five days ago at Ned's funeral. Bob had thought it best if they have some time alone for a while. After all that had happened Bob figured Fred wouldn't want a lot of people around. But this was important. Fred could be thinking the same things. She could need someone to talk to. So Bob headed for the hospital.  
  
**  
  
Something moved. Only slightly but it was clear. Unfortunately no one could see it. It's not that the place was deserted but just the fact that this particular movement was out of sight of everyone. Especially the family that now placed flowers on the small mound of fresh earth that stood next to the gravestone.  
  
She moved again. Instantly feeling the heat of the small case. She opened her eyes but saw nothing but black. She tried to cry out but there was no sound, her throat was too dry. She tried to move but her hands could not stretch out far. It was unreal. Nothing was right.  
  
She didn't know where she was. She didn't know how long she had been there. She didn't even know who she was. This didn't make sense. She didn't know anything. Nothing made sense. All was black and still and quiet. So black.  
  
**  
  
Bob sat on Fred's bed flicking through some magazines unconvincingly whilst the nurse took blood from Fred's already bruised arm. Fred smiled her thanks when the nurse let quietly, closing the curtain behind her. Bob looked up at Fred was making herself comfortable in the chair at the side of her bed.  
  
"So how are you?" Bob asked smiling whilst waiting for an answer.  
  
"I feel so much better. I think getting out of here the other day really helped, even though it was a bad day. It kinda made things clearer you know? Like I should be glad that I'm even alive. Does that sound completely crazy?"  
  
"No. It makes sense. Sort of." Bob smiled.  
  
Fred nodded pleased that she really didn't sound like a mad person. It was true. Since the funeral her recovery had been much faster, she had become more relaxed although no one, least of all Fred, understood why.  
  
"I wasn't expecting you to come today." Fred said eventually.  
  
"I hope you don't mind. I just needed to talk to you about something."  
  
"Of course I don't mind. Is it something about what happened or another something?"  
  
"I think you know the answer to that." Bob said grimly. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it but I can't ignore this any more."  
  
"Ignore what?"  
  
"I don't know if I can explain it. Ever since Middle Earth things have been so confusing. I've been trying to work things out in my head but they still don't make any sense to me. Everything that happened is so clear yet at the same time it doesn't seem real. Do you ever feel that?"  
  
"I sometimes wish it wasn't real. Does that count?"  
  
Bob smiled. "Maybe it's my imagination or something but lately, especially since the funeral th9ings have seemed even stranger. You know like something's not right. I don't know what it is but it's strange and doesn't make any sense."  
  
"Bob I don't think anything that happened made any sense. Nothing seemed real and it's all really hard to understand and make sense of but the truth is it did happen and there's nothing we can do to change it. No matter how much we want to." At this last bit Fred's voice went quieter.  
  
"Do you ever think about David?" Bob questioned kindly.  
  
"All the time. You know the worst thing? I keep seeing him bursting into flames when he broke that Orb thing. I can picture his face so clearly but that's the only thing I remember seeing him doing. It's like it has some really great importance."  
  
"Strange I get the same thing. I see him in my dreams as well. Breaking the Orb in the same way each time. Like it's an action replay. Maybe someone's trying to tell us something." Bob laughed but Fred did nothing but stare at the floor.  
  
"Maybe they are. I know it sounds stupid but when I dream about him I am so sure that he's still alive."  
  
"You want him to be alive and that's the only way you remember him." Bob said.  
  
"I know, basic psychology but everything just seems real. Like he's.like he's not really dead."  
  
Bob looked surprised at this comment. "You don't think he's still alive do you?"  
  
"I don't know. It's probably just me being hopeful but I have one of those really strong feelings that we didn't see everything that happened when he broke the Orb."  
  
"Fred I know you want him back but I don't want you getting your hopes up over a probably insignificant feeling."  
  
"I know and I'm not expecting him to walk through the door any minute. It's just a feeling that I can't get rid of. You get them all the time."  
  
"Yeah but mine are usually right, as are yours." Bob was worried now.  
  
"Not all the time."  
  
"I've felt the same thing. There's something else as well. I can't remember it now but I do remember waking up and thinking that it was so real. I probably think of it later when I'm at home. You know what it's like." Bob tried to lighten the mood but it didn't work. She had to bring up the thing she had been dreading. "Fred. Do you blame me for what happened to David?"  
  
"What? Of course not. Why would you think that?" Fred was so surprised by the question that she really didn't know what to say.  
  
"You remember what happened out there as well as I do. He died saving us and making sure that I wasn't hurt. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't angry with me about David. I know I had a chance to break the Orb. Maybe I should have taken it."  
  
"Don't talk like that. David did what he did because he knew it was the right thing to do. He did it to save both of us, mostly me I think. He knew that I would be upset if you died and he would never let another person sacrifice their life when he could do it himself. Trust me it wasn't your fault." Fred was still completely shocked that Bob had even mentioned it.  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Each taking in what the other had said to them.  
  
After a while Fred said, "Did I tell you that he told me he loved me?" Bob shook her head and listened. "He asked me if he could come back to Earth with me. He said he wanted to be with me. At first I thought he was joking but then we tried to escape from the tower and I got caught and he did everything he could to save me. He even told Saruman that he would take the punishment instead. I know that doesn't sound that romantic but trust me when that punishment is whipping it's a big thing.  
  
"He helped me during my stay. He tended my wounds and used all his water ration on me. He kept me alive Bob. I know it probably sounds like a cliché but without him I would have died. You know the worst thing about all of this? I loved him back. I never thought I'd hear myself say that but I really loved him. In the cell I could picture all the things I was going to show him when we got home." Fred looked down at her hands as tears filled her eyes.  
  
"Fred I am so sorry. I didn't mean to make this hard for you. I had almost forgotten that you were in the tower for so long."  
  
"I know. It's hard to believe isn't it? He really loved me Bob. I never thought I'd ever have that happen to me and it did. Now he's dead and I can't help thinking about what he would have said if he'd been here now. He probably wouldn't have left my side knowing him."  
  
Bob smiled at the thought of that handsome man watching over Fred. There had been something about him. It was something she had felt when she first set eyes on him. Not just how good-looking he was but there was a special quality about him that she couldn't quite place. She had seen the love between the two as soon as he had swept her into his arms when her and Fred had entered the cell and set him free.  
  
"I'm sorry about what happened." Bob said sincerely.  
  
"I know. It's not your fault. There was nothing you could have done to stop him anyway. He would have killed you himself before he would have let you break that Orb." Fred smiled at the thought of David. For the first time she saw the man instead of the burning figure.  
  
"Thank you. I needed to know that you weren't blaming me for what happened to David. I didn't want our friendship to be ruined."  
  
"Of course it wasn't ruined. It's going to take an awful lot more than that."  
  
"Okay, try this one. I'm really sorry I nailed you into that box. You know I had no other choice." Bob said quickly.  
  
"Hey. I think we've already been through this. That wasn't your fault. You had no choice. Besides, I think it's better that you did it rather that one of those Orcs, trust me they can be more than a little rough." Fred almost laughed.  
  
Bob smiled, pleased that her friend had really meant what she had said in that room in Orthanc. There was still the matter of David though. Bob knew that her friend missed him more than she was letting on and she was determined to let her know that she could talk about him.  
  
"I know I've said this before but I'm sorry about David. I can't imagine what this feels like for you. I just wish."  
  
"Don't say that. It's not what David would have wanted and it certainly isn't what I wanted. You're not to blame for anything that happened. He would not have let you do it yourself no matter what you said. David was incredibly stubborn. That much I learned. There was nothing you or I could have done to change his mind about that."  
  
"I know. You've said that before. I just can't help but think that you still blame me for it."  
  
"David's dead." Fred said after a moment's thought. "He's not coming back. I can't change what happened. I wish I could but that's impossible."  
  
"For wishes to come true, it's not that impossible." Bob interrupted. "There's nothing I can do. I know that. You're right though, I do miss him and I do want him back, more than anything but it's not going to happen so can we just stop talking about it? Please."  
  
"Would it have been better if I had done it? Would you have been happier if I had been the one killed? If I had broken the Orb?" Bob hated saying it but she knew she had to even though she was terrified of what Fred's answer would be.  
  
Fred didn't know what to say. In all honesty she hadn't thought about it. She had accepted what had happened and even tried to forget about David, although that proved to be near impossible. She couldn't tell her friend that she would have been happier because she wouldn't have.  
  
"No I wouldn't have been happier. I would have lost my best friend." She simply said looking down at the floor.  
  
"But you would have your true love." Bob persisted.  
  
"How can you even think that I would be pleased that you were dead and not him? Bob you are my best friend. Ned's dead and David's dead. Nothing can change that so why ask the questions?"  
  
"Because I'd hate to think that I'm the reason you're so upset. I don't want you to be angry with me."  
  
"When will you realise that I'm not angry with you? David sacrificed his life to save me and you. I think that shows a lot of devotion on his part. You're not making this easier by constantly feeling sorry for yourself." Fred stopped herself before she said something she knew she's regret.  
  
"You can say it as much as you like but I know that deep down you wish that David was here instead of me."  
  
"Maybe you're right." Fred shouted. She instantly regretted it when she saw her friend's eyes fill with tears. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." She whispered.  
  
"At least you're telling the truth." Bob said and got up to leave. "I'm glad that we're good enough friends for you to do that." She was crying now wishing she could stop herself but knowing she couldn't.  
  
As she grabbed her coat from the back of the chair Fred grabbed her arm to stop her leaving. "Please don't go. I'm sorry. I." Bob pulled away.  
  
"You have no idea about what happened in the New Forest. About what we went through to save you. Ned is dead because of it." She shouted.  
  
"You think I don't know that?" Fred shouted back. She wanted to get up and face Bob properly but that familiar weakness had come over her and she wanted to just curl up and go to sleep. "Do you honestly think that I haven't thought about it day and night ever since I got back. The things you and Ned sacrificed for me were amazing and I know that everything that happened to me was my fault. Ned's death, the torture, you getting hurt, David's death." Fred trailed off not wanting to believe what she had just said. "I never forgot what you were doing. Never." She added quietly.  
  
Bob looked angrily at her for a moment but sensing the true remorse in Fred's eyes she sat down again and waited for her friend to say something else. She waited patiently as Fred thought of how to explain everything to her.  
  
"You have no idea what it was like in Orthanc." She whispered softly.  
  
"Then tell me." Bob encouraged.  
  
Fred hesitated not wanting to tell Bob but knowing that she was the only person she could talk to.  
  
"When I was first taken there I couldn't believe that it was happening. You know like when you have a dream and you wake up but its like you're still dreaming?" Bob nodded. "I was flying with the Wraith. I couldn't see what was happening. I was so scared and all I felt was cold. I knew where it was taking me. It wasn't what I expected. At first I was so impressed that I almost forgot about the danger I was in, it was like nothing I had ever seen before.  
  
"I was met by Saruman. He watched me, waiting for me to do something. He threw me in a cell and I thought that would be it. He would just leave me there until I died. I was so stupid. I should have known better. There was an Orc. He gave me something in my food, if that's what you call it. It made me see things, terrible things, dead people mostly. It felt so real. There was nothing I could do to escape it.  
  
"Eventually that faded away. Then the real stuff began. I know that Ned writes a lot about torture and things but I had never experienced anything like it. That's when I first met David. Saruman dragged me into that room, the one you rescued me in. He got one of his Orcs to beat me a few times. I thought that was bad." Fred could have laughed at that now. "He asked me where Frodo was over and over again. When I didn't tell him he just told the Orc to make it worse, and he did.  
  
"After a while the Orc brought out a poker, a hot poker, like the one you saw. David shouted at them to stop hitting me. He offered to take my punishment. They almost agreed until I told them no. They did it. They hit me with it over and over again, and they didn't stop until I collapsed. Or at least I think I collapsed. It all seems like so long ago now."  
  
Fred stopped trying to imagine what happened even though she really didn't want to. She pictured David telling them to stop hurting her. The first time they met. Bob waited patiently and looked at Fred who was obviously deep in thought.  
  
"After that other things happened. Things that I don't need to tell you and you don't need to know. David helped me time and time again. Risking his own life a few times as well. Especially when we tried to escape. That's when they whipped me. That was the worst. It happened to him once he said. Only it was worse for him. He saved me, he helped me. Without him I would be dead. In a way I wish I was..." Once again she trailed off.  
  
Bob was shocked by this confession. Her friend was saying that she wished she was dead, it was hard to believe.  
  
"Fred don't ever say that. You should be happy that you're alive. I know that David would be. Look at all he gave up to save you." She took Fred's hand in encouragement.  
  
"I know. But look at everything that's happened. If you hadn't have saved me I would be dead now. And Ned would probably be alive."  
  
"That's not true. Ned was stabbed, she was poisoned. Nothing that you I could have done would have changed that."  
  
"Maybe. If I was dead David would probably still be alive."  
  
"From what you've told me he wouldn't have wanted to live without you. I think he would have wanted you to be happy that you are still alive and not worry about him. Fred, he loved you, he would have wanted you to be happy and alive otherwise why would he have died?"  
  
"Maybe." Fred said trying to control the tears that were flowing down her face. "Maybe you're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I would never wish that you were dead, you know that. David died because he loved me and he wanted to save you. There was nothing you could have done to stop him. He died to save me and you and we should be thankful." Fred smiled.  
  
Bob smiled back, pleased that Fred was finally seeing sense. Strangely Fred's account of things had made something clearer although it still seemed so far off. Bob looked out the window above Fred's chair and noticed that it was almost dark. Something was still wrong though but she couldn't place it. If only she knew.  
  
"There's one more thing I wanted to ask you about." Bob said getting ready to leave. "How did you make me see what was happening to you?"  
  
Fred looked puzzled. "Made you see? You mean that actually worked?" She was really surprised.  
  
"Yeah. It hurt like hell." Bob smiled.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't think that it would work. I was lonely one night so I thought I'd test my psychic ability. I called out and nothing happened. I figured I'd failed. I had no idea I'd actually been able to contact you. Was it strong?"  
  
"You could say that. I felt your pain. I mean literally felt your pain. That's how I found you. You said something to me, I think it was when.the whole eye incident.I heard the word 'Orthanc' and assumed you were there." Bob said.  
  
"That was good thinking. I'm sorry if I hurt you. I didn't even realise I was doing it during the eye incident. Did you really feel it?" She was still shocked.  
  
"Well, the watered down version of it I would imagine. I felt your fear mostly. It's what made me and Ned so determined to come and rescue you." Bob smiled.  
  
"Wow. That's so cool." Fred smiled.  
  
"You may think it was cool but it was painful and I don't want you to do it again, you understand?" Fred nodded. "I'd better go. It's getting late and you need rest." Fred nodded and smiled.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked almost timidly.  
  
"Of course." Bob smiled back and went to turn away. "Fred do you feel that?" Bob asked getting that strange feeling that something was wrong,  
  
"Feel what?" Fred asked standing slowly and painfully from the chair.  
  
"Nothing. I'm sure it's nothing." Bob waved goodbye and left the ward but she couldn't shake that feeling that something was very wrong. 


	3. resurrection

Disclaimer: I own nothing from lotr although I wish I did.  
  
Ch3 Resurrection  
  
As Bob was about to leave the ward she stopped, that feeling of something wrong was back again only this time it was crying out to her. She put her hand on her head trying to work out what it was saying. It was afraid, trapped. The person was familiar but different at the same time. It made no sense and yet it felt right to Bob. If only she could work out who it was. Who was calling out to her?  
  
It suddenly hit her. She instantly knew who it was and what they wanted. Ned.  
  
Bob rushed back into the ward and ran straight over to Fred's bed. Fred was just about to get into bed when Bob ran through the curtains with a shocked and distressed look on her face. Fred didn't understand what was going on but she knew it was serious from the look on Bob's face.  
  
"What?" She questioned, hoping her friend would tell her what was going on.  
  
"That feeling. I know what it was. It wasn't just a random feeling, it was someone calling out to me and I think I know who it was. It's so loud now. It's Ned, I'm sure of it." Bob was trying to keep her voice steady even though this was becoming increasingly hard because of her excitement.  
  
"Ned? She's dead. Are you sure it's her?"  
  
"Yes I'm positive. Fred, she's alive and she's scared. We have to help her."  
  
"But if she's alive that means." Fred didn't have to finish; she was already pulling a pair of trousers on over her nightclothes. She grabbed a thick jumper from the bag under the bed and threw it on, followed by her long black coat she had worn to the funeral. She barely thought about the pain as she was dressing, all she could think about was Ned being alive and underground. No wonder she was scared.  
  
Bob was waiting patiently although she was moving closer to the door. Finally, Fred was dressed and they practically ran out of the ward, causing several of the staff to look confused and one nurse trying to run, unsuccessfully after the fleeing Fred.  
  
They raced through the hospital going as fast as they could. Fred was doing a great job of keeping up which surprised even herself. Bob ran through the double doors into the cold night air. Although the night was fresh and quite nice she put her coat on quickly and waited for a moment as both herself and Fred caught their breath.  
  
"We could get a taxi." Bob suggested. Fred nodded a little too out of breath to be normal. "Or we could 'borrow' a car." Bob hesitated. She looked to Fred who was trying to decide whether it would be alright to steal someone's car just so they could get to the graveyard quicker. The thought of Ned trying to claw her way out of the coffin and through the heavy mud made up her mind.  
  
"Okay but we bring it back when we have Ned." Bob nodded.  
  
They ran over to a car that they thought wouldn't have an alarm. Bob took out a card from her purse and began fiddling with the door. Fred was looking nervously around her; she was sure that a policeman would walk by any second and catch them stealing the car. Somehow she didn't think that telling him that they were going to the graveyard to dig up bodies was such a good idea.  
  
"Come on Bob." She urged getting more and more anxious.  
  
"It won't work." Bob said, frustration evident in her voice.  
  
"Give it here." Fred took the card from Bob's hand and started working on the lock of the car. Soon there was a small click and the door opened when Fred pulled the handle.  
  
"How did you do that?" Bob asked looking in amazement at Fred.  
  
"You must have loosened it." Smiled Fred, not wanting to make her friend feel too bad. "The master locksmith, remember." Bob smiled back, pleased that her friend was not too tired already.  
  
"Okay, who's going to drive?" Bob asked.  
  
"Well, I've only had about three lessons so I guess you." Fred was suddenly very worried about getting in the car with Bob.  
  
"Fine. I should warn you that I've only had five so far so."  
  
"I really don't think that matters a whole lot. Just drive the damn thing." Fred said angrily walking around to the passenger's side.  
  
"What if we get caught without a license?" Bob asked, truly concerned.  
  
"Bob, we're in a stolen car going to a graveyard to dig up bodies, I really don't think this will matter too much." Fred answered as she got into the car.  
  
"Right." Bob said, "Where are the keys?"  
  
"For God sake. Just."  
  
"Maybe we should take a cab?" Bob suggested.  
  
"I think that might be a good idea." Fred answered getting a little annoyed at herself for not thinking ahead.  
  
They got out of the car and slammed the doors shut. Just as they did they saw a taxi just leaving so Bob practically stepped out in front of it to make it stop. It did and Bob threw open the door causing the man inside to get out the other door. Fred sighed at her friend's impatience and got in after Bob.  
  
"You know where the graveyard in Salisbury is?" Bob asked the driver. He nodded. "Take us there, as quick as you can." She said sitting back and rummaging through her pockets in search of money.  
  
**  
  
They eventually reached the graveyard and Bob quickly handed the money over to the driver and told him to keep the change. He smiled happily and asked,  
  
"So what do two young girls want to do out in the graveyard in the middle of the night? Not getting into any trouble I hope." He smiled again.  
  
Fred and Bob looked at each other and thought about what he was saying. It was risky to be out in the middle of the night in a place that they didn't know anything about but they knew they had to help Ned.  
  
"We're digging up bodies. Is that alright?" Bob said before Fred could stop her. The man just stared at Bob as she got out of the taxi.  
  
"She's just joking." Fred smiled although she got the impression that the driver didn't really believe her.  
  
Fred got out of the taxi more slowly and slammed the door shut. The driver looked at them through his window once more with a look of disbelief on his face and drove steadily off. That left Fred and Bob standing at the side of the road. Fred was looking angrily over at Bob who was trying to look over the fence into the darkness of the graveyard. She glanced over at Fred and stopped her observations when she saw the annoyed look on Fred's face.  
  
"What?" She asked innocently.  
  
"You didn't need to tell him why we were really here. He thought you were insane. He's probably calling the police on us right now." Fred said accusingly.  
  
"Don't be stupid. He thought it was a joke."  
  
"I hope you're right. I really don't want to be caught with a shovel in my hand in the middle of the night digging up graves."  
  
Bob laughed at her friend's little outburst. "You could have stayed in the hospital, no one forced you to come." She smiled.  
  
"Really? Do you honestly think that I would let you come out here on your own? I'm not that stupid."  
  
"Well, you're here now so."  
  
"Lets get this over and done with, I don't like it out here." Fred said impatiently. She looked into the graveyard and shivered at the thought of all those bodies only six feet under.  
  
"Not scared of ghosts are you?" Bob said happily as she opened the gate.  
  
"Yeah, you remember what happened last time when we went on a little adventure. I ended up in Middle Earth."  
  
"Come on Fred, this is nothing like that. We're in a graveyard not a torture chamber, what could possibly happen?" Bob smiled but instantly regretted saying it when a small animal, probably a cat, ran in front of her and she jumped back almost knocking Fred over.  
  
"You're absolutely right. Nothing to be afraid of at all." Fred smiled as she gently pushed her friend forward in the direction of Ned's grave.  
  
They slowed down when they saw the bright white head stone that marked Ned's grave, neither wanted to do this but both knew they had to. If Ned was alive they needed to help her. They stopped when they reached the small mound of dirt that Ned was buried under. They stared at it a moment expecting Ned's hand to reach out and grab them. It didn't and they knew that they had to dig.  
  
Bob pried her eyes from the grave and walked over to the wall behind the headstone. Luckily someone had left a spade there, very convenient for them. Bob picked it up and walked back over to Fred who was still staring down at the grave. Bob could tell that she didn't want to do this and she understood why.  
  
"Okay. I dig." Bob said as she pushed the spade into the ground.  
  
"Bob, tell me you're absolutely sure about this. I don't want to dig up a dead Ned." Fred asked worry in her eyes.  
  
"I know I'm right. I heard her calling out, just like you in Middle Earth, I was right then wasn't I?"  
  
Fred nodded. "I just don't want to get this wrong." Bob nodded in understanding and began digging.  
  
**  
  
After quite some time Bob was standing in a deep hole. Fred was stood at the side watching, she had offered to do some digging but Bob insisted that she wasn't well enough and that it wouldn't do her any good. Fred had not liked this but knew that Bob was right so had stood watching as her friend dug to find the coffin. Neither of them liked this and both hated the thought of finding a normal dead body in the coffin. At the same time the thought of Ned alive down there was too much to make them leave.  
  
Bob stopped digging for a moment and looked up at Fred.  
  
"How deep do you think this is? It must be nearly six feet right?"  
  
"I don't know. Do they actually measure these things or just guess? Are you sure you don't want me to."  
  
"No. I think I must nearly be there by now." Bob interrupted.  
  
"I hope you're right. I really don't want to get caught out here. It seems a little disrespectful don't you think?"  
  
"Will it help if we said a prayer afterwards?" Bob laughed.  
  
"That's not funny. I was being serious." Fred scowled.  
  
"I know. I was only joking. You know lighten the mood."  
  
"It'll take a lot more than that to lighten the mood of this place." Fred said grimly. Se didn't like it and all she wanted was to be at home.  
  
"You have a point there." Bob said as she started digging again. "I would have thought this place wouldn't have spooked you out after what happened."  
  
"Are you kidding? I know it's not as bad as Orthanc but it's still a graveyard with bodies rotting underground."  
  
"Okay. I really don't need a description of what is underneath here I have a pretty good imagination without you helping it along."  
  
Bob dug in silence for a while not wanting to think about where they were or what was under their feet. She just hoped she was right. Seeing her dead, and probably rotting friend was something she was not looking forward to. She knew that Fred felt the same. Both of them just wanted to get this over with and have their friend back and alive with them.  
  
Fred was sat down with her legs dangling into the grave when she heard Bob's spade hit something solid. Bob stopped digging and froze. It was something they had been expecting but shocked them when it happened. Secretly Fred had been hoping that the coffin would be gone and that they wouldn't have to open it to see their dead friend.  
  
"I guess this is it." Bob said as she removed more earth from the lid of the coffin.  
  
"I guess so." Fred said. She slowly lowered herself into the grave so they were both standing beside the coffin. They stood silently as if they expected to hear shouting from inside. Nothing. Not a sound came from the graveyard. Fred looked over at Bob who had her eyes closed as if it would help her deal with what was going on.  
  
"Someone has to open it." Bob finally said. "So, do you want to or shall I?"  
  
"I can't say I want to but."  
  
"Are you sure? I can do it."  
  
"No, you did the digging, besides I have to feel like I did something to help."  
  
Bob nodded; she was really pleased that she didn't have to open it. Fred walked to the other side and bent down. She looked at the lid.  
  
"I think it just opens. I don't think it's screwed down or anything."  
  
"That's good." Bob said trying her best to sound unaffected by what was going on.  
  
Fred put her hands at the side of the lid and tried to lift it. It was very heavy but she kept trying knowing that she had to see what was inside and that she couldn't just leave. Fred pushed harder and the lid broke away. It lifted slightly before Fred dropped it back down.  
  
"At least we know it opens." She said as she looked up at Bob who was leaning over. "Are you ready for this?"  
  
"Yeah I suppose so. Do you want a hand?"  
  
"No I think I'm okay. Just be ready to run if something terrible jumps out at me." Fred smiled but soon realised that the joke had only succeeded in making both of them more nervous.  
  
She gripped the lid again and took a deep breath preparing herself for what she was about to see. She lifted the lid, it was slightly heavier than she had first thought but she managed to lift it on her own. The first thing that hit her was the smell and once the lid was pushed right back she recoiled because of it. She covered her nose with her hand hoping it would block the smell. It didn't.  
  
Bob had done pretty much the same as Fred. Now both of them looked inside the coffin at the same time. Fred let out a small cry when she saw Ned's pale and dirty body lying there in her black funeral clothes. The cry wasn't really because of the condition Ned's body was in it was more because of the fact that Ned's chest was gently rising and falling. She was alive. Not awake but alive. Fred couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was expecting to see a rotten body barely recognisable but instead she was seeing a very alive Ned.  
  
Bob couldn't believe it either, she had been right. She moved closer as if to confirm what she was seeing. She looked up at Fred who was just staring into the coffin. It was as is nothing had happened. Ned looked asleep. She shook her head wondering if this was her imagination but from the look on Bob's face she guessed it wasn't.  
  
"She's.alive. Oh my God Bob you were right. She's alive. How is this possible? They did a post mortem on her. How?"  
  
"I don't think I want to think about it. It seems impossible but it's true. She survived."  
  
"But. she can't be alive. It's a medical impossibility."  
  
"I know that but she is alive. I'm not sure if she's well." Bob looked down into the coffin again.  
  
"Her breathing seems steady. She looks pale but you'd expect that right? Bob we'd better get her out of here before dawn."  
  
"I don't think she's going to burst into flames when the sun hits her."  
  
"No but we could get into trouble if they find us in here."  
  
"You have a point. Lets get her out of here."  
  
Bob and Fred reached down and dragged Ned as gently as they could out of the coffin and out of the grave. Neither could believe what they were doing.  
  
"So where now? Should we take her to the hospital?" Fred asked.  
  
"No. They would never believe us. Let's take her to my uncles; he has a flat a few miles from here. We can take her there and help her."  
  
"What are we going to do Bob? I know some first aid but not how to help someone that's been dead for three weeks. What am I meant to do?"  
  
"I don't know alright. I just know that it's not a good idea to go to the hospital that's all."  
  
"Not another feeling?" Fred asked sarcastically.  
  
"I was right before wasn't I?" Bob proved her point.  
  
"Alright. How do you suggest we get to your uncle's flat, we can't carry her all the way there and there aren't any cars we can steal."  
  
"We should try and wake her up." Bob said.  
  
"What and ask her to walk after being dead?"  
  
"Do you have a better idea? Fred I don't know what to do, all I know is that we have to get her out of here and I'm trying to think of a way to do it. Okay?" Bob shouted, she surprised her friend.  
  
"Fine, we'll try and wake her up and maybe she can at least help us get her into you uncle's flat." Fred sighed as they lowered Ned to the floor in an attempt to wake her up.  
  
They sat on the ground watching Ned's steady breathing for some time, they knew that what they were seeing couldn't be real and yet it was. It didn't make any sense, there was no way someone could come back after having all of their organs removed during a post mortem. Fred and Bob really didn't want to think about it. They needed to wake Ned up but they had no idea how to do it, how did you wake up a person that has supposedly been dead for three or four weeks?  
  
Bob suddenly got to her knees and slapped Ned hard around the face. Fred sat up surprised at what her friend had just done. Bob slapped Ned again only harder this time, she was going to wake her up no matter what it took. She didn't tell Fred but she actually enjoyed hitting Ned so hard and not having Ned shouting at her.  
  
"What are you doing?" Fred almost shouted when Bob readied herself to hit Ned again.  
  
"I'm trying to wake her up of course. What's the one thing that always annoys Ned? People hitting her, so this might wake her up. It makes sense." Bob smiled innocently.  
  
"I hope you're not just doing this because you can. She'll be very angry if she ever finds out."  
  
"Hey, I'm just trying to do all I can to help a friend, since when was that so wrong?" The innocence was fading fast.  
  
"Since we dug her up and are hitting her across the face." Fred smiled at her friend's pleasure at hitting Ned.  
  
"You have a point there." Bob looked down at Ned who was still sleeping soundly. "You want a go?"  
  
Fred looked sharply over at Bob who was now shaking Ned violently in an attempt to wake her up. Fred smiled as she looked down at Ned's face, she knew exactly how much Bob was enjoying this. She was about to turn away and check that no one was coming when she saw Ned's face move, or more precisely her eye open just for a second. Fred looked back and there was nothing. Maybe it had been her imagination but when Ned suddenly put out her hand to stop Bob from shaking her Fred almost cried out with joy. Ned was alive; probably not well, but alive. 


	4. welcome back

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien has created, unfortunately. I guess I can still dream.  
  
A/N: Come on review please please. Alright, enough begging. Please. Sorry. Thanks to Katy, have a really good new year.  
  
Ch 4 Welcome back  
  
Fred gripped Ned's shoulders and shook her gently, not wanting her to hit out at her like she had done with Bob.  
  
"Ned can you hear me?" She shouted.  
  
Ned obviously could because she looked right at Fred and moved her head around to try and find the source of the almost hysterical laughing that was coming from Bob. Although she was awake Ned didn't seem to know where she was or who Fred and Bob were, this was hardly surprising and yet it concerned Fred who was still trying to get Ned to look at her properly.  
  
Ned gripped Fred's wrists and pulled her hands away from her shoulders. Fred didn't resist. Ned tried to sit up and after a few failed attempts and a little help from Fred and Bob she managed it. She looked completely dazed as she looked around her as if trying to work out where she was. She then turned to the two, in her eyes, blurred people beside her. They looked vaguely familiar and yet she had an incredible urge to run away from them.  
  
She began struggling to crawl away, knowing that it wasn't safe to stay there but at the same time not knowing whether she would be able to get away. Everything was blurred and confusing. Like it was all new and yet she had been there before. All she saw were blurred shapes that resembled things that she remembered and yet they seemed so far away, too far away for her to reach. Everything was so dark with the occasional light mass that was too distorted to make sense of. It was like looking through smeared glass that didn't show anything clearly.  
  
Ned was desperate to work out what was going on but there was a fogginess clouding her thoughts so there was no way she could understand what was happening. She couldn't hear much, she could hear voices but they seemed so distant, like they were miles away and shouting at her but she couldn't hear them. It sounded like she was listening to them underwater and they could only be heard as muffled sounds that made no sense to her.  
  
It was almost as if she recognised them, the voices, they sounded familiar and yet she couldn't figure out what they were saying or who they were coming from. As she looked around she could see those distant shapes, she swore they were looking at her, they must have been the ones talking to her but she couldn't understand what they were saying.  
  
Their voices were resounding in her head but they weren't getting any clearer, they sounded angry, they were shouting at her. If only she knew what they were saying. She wanted to move away or tell them something to stop them shouting at her but she couldn't speak, her mouth was so dry, she couldn't speak, she couldn't move away. She suddenly felt trapped, trapped with these people, she wanted to get away, she wanted them to leave.  
  
Ned tried to crawl away but her muscles would not allow her to move far, she wanted to, she could feel the need to go away but her body wouldn't respond to her mind's pleas. She felt hands grabbing her, pulling her back. They were stronger than her, she couldn't make them leave. Her body was so weak it wouldn't do what she wanted and what she wanted was to get away from these people.  
  
Those seemingly big hands were pulling her back, gripping her so she couldn't leave. Why wouldn't they leave her alone? What was she to them? Why did she feel so tired? She didn't understand what was happening or why it was happening.  
  
Fred and Bob were trying to keep Ned from crawling away; they had grabbed her before she could get too far. They knew that they had to help her but all she wanted to do was get away from them. She appeared to be afraid of them. That made no sense to Bob although Fred understood perfectly.  
  
"Why's she trying to get away, we only want to help her?" Bob asked loudly whilst she tried to restrain the struggling Ned.  
  
"She's been underground for four weeks without any light. She's been buried alive, wouldn't you be scared? She probably doesn't understand who we are or where she is. She's been underground, she's not used to this." Fred said quickly also trying to keep Ned still who was crying and trying to get away.  
  
"What do we do then? How do we calm her down?" Bob hoped Fred had an answer. "We have to help her. Soon."  
  
"Okay. Let her go." Fred said letting her grip loose.  
  
"Let her go? Are you insane? She's sick she needs help." Bob shouted back at her.  
  
"Yeah but we're not helping her by grabbing her. We're just making her more upset. Just let her go."  
  
"So she can crawl away into the city. Probably not the best idea Fred." Bob was still holding on to Ned hoping to restrain her.  
  
"Look at her Bob, she can hardly crawl now, I hardly think she's strong enough to make it to the city. Just let her go. At least then she'll calm down and we can try and get her to your uncle's."  
  
Bob paused uncertainly for a moment and then let go of Ned who fell on her face and struggled to get to her knees again. By now she was crying, but making very little noise. Neither Fred nor Bob needed to ask why.  
  
Finally, after a few minutes of trying to crawl away Ned fell on her face again and began crying into the pavement. Bob and Fred forced themselves to stay away from her not wanting to upset her even more. After a few minutes Ned's cries died down slightly and she lifted her head slightly. She didn't move though, she didn't want them to know where she was. Her logic just wasn't there at that time. She still couldn't understand what was going on but now the physical pain was taking over the shock.  
  
She remained still against the floor hoping the two people who were holding her wouldn't come near her again. She could feel the severe cold that was taking over her body. She didn't understand why though, she wanted it to go away. Those blurred images of people were fading into just black shadows that were now completely unrecognisable and yet because of it even more terrifying.  
  
Suddenly the blackness left her and the shapes were back again but this time they were clearer, like she was just too far away to see them clearly but getting closer. She recognised them although she couldn't remember where from. She didn't know their names but now she got the feeling that they weren't going to hurt her. Still she didn't want them getting too close.  
  
That coldness was taking her over again but that welcomed blackness wouldn't come back. She just wanted to sleep again, like she had been before. She tried to speak hoping to attract the attention of the two people. She got the feeling that they knew something about what was happening to her. Yes they knew, that's why they were there. She tried again and the shout came out as a strained croak.  
  
Bob and Fred were watching this. Bob was about to walk over to her when she heard the croak but Fred stopped her and shook her head.  
  
"She wants to call for us." Bob whispered fiercely.  
  
"Then let her call for us. Be patient Bob."  
  
They waited for some time. Finally they heard what sounded like a word. It was definitely form Ned although they couldn't make out what it was; they guessed that she wanted their help. Bob went towards her and this time Fred didn't stop her. Instead she followed.  
  
Although the girls had only heard a word that hadn't really made sense Ned had tried to say more. She had wanted to ask them to help her, to make her warm and to let her sleep, to tell her what happened. Unfortunately she couldn't say all of this and ended up just saying one word.  
  
"Help."  
  
Bob and Fred approached her carefully not wanting to startle or upset her as they had done earlier. She lifted her head from the ground as Bob knelt down next to her. She looked pleadingly into Bob's eyes and lay back down. Fred stood watching this not wanting to get in the way but wanting to stay close just in case there was a repeat of the incident earlier on.  
  
Everything seemed calm now though, Ned was silently crying into the pavement and Bob was speaking gently to her hoping to keep her that way but comfort her. Ned eventually looked up at Bob who smiled at her, she tried to speak but it came out as nothing more than a whisper. Bob leaned closer to hear.  
  
"What happened?" Ned asked quietly.  
  
"That doesn't matter now." Bob whispered back. She looked over to Fred who pointed at her watch and up at the slowly brightening sky. Dawn. "Ned, we have to get you out of here. It's going to be light soon and we need to get you indoors. Okay. Me and Fred are going to take you to a safe place but you're going to have to help us. Do you understand?"  
  
Ned twisted her head round to look at Fred and smiled. She nodded suddenly trusting these two still unknown people completely. Fred smiled back hoping to bring her some comfort and make her see that she was alright. She didn't know whether it worked or not but it was worth a try.  
  
Bob leaned down closer to Ned and helped her friend get up. It took a while but eventually she was almost standing, with the help of both the girls. They had to get her out of the graveyard, they knew how bad it would be of they got caught. They were surprised that no one had found them already.  
  
Slowly they managed to get Ned walking down the road although it took a lot of support for her to do this. Ned had been buried for several weeks so her muscles were very stiff and she had to concentrate very hard to be able to walk at all.  
  
Eventually they managed to get into the city. It was just beginning to get even lighter but luckily there still weren't many people walking around. Those that were generally just ignored them, too busy with their own problems to worry about anyone else. It took a lot of work to get Ned into the city and all three were relieved when they finally saw the first buildings. Ned wasn't the only one having a hard time, Fred, who had ran away from the hospital was also finding it hard, she hadn't realised that the fairly short walk would be that hard. She smiled when she finally saw the buildings although she had to force herself to half-carry Ned through those never ending streets.  
  
Finally they reached a tall block of flats. When they got there Bob stopped and looked up.  
  
"Please don't tell me your uncle's flat is on the top floor." Fred begged but the look on Bob's face told her she already knew the answer.  
  
"It's really not that far." Bob insisted. She understood why Fred was so worried; it was a long way to walk especially with Ned being ill.  
  
"That's odd because it looks like miles. I'm guessing there isn't a lift either?" Fred wasn't the least bit hopeful when she said this.  
  
"There used to be but unless you want to climb up the lift shaft then we should probably take the stairs."  
  
"I knew you were going to say that." Fred said as Bob pulled out the key from her pocket and pushed it into the keyhole. Nothing happened.  
  
"I think we may have a slight problem." Bob said to Fred who was looking up tiredly at the flats.  
  
"What's the problem?" Fred asked looking over at her friend.  
  
"You remember that my uncle said I could borrow this flat?" A small nod from Fred. "And you remember that a few weeks ago he was robbed?" Another nod, Fred had a good idea of what Bob was going to say. "I think he changed the key. I mean the whole block of flats changed the keys."  
  
"You call that a small problem? They don't come much bigger than that." Fred was almost shouting in frustration.  
  
"It could be worse." Bob said trying to calm Fred down slightly.  
  
"How could it possibly worse?"  
  
"We could have to climb up the walls." The humour didn't work though and Bob instantly regretted it.  
  
"Just kick the door down." Fred eventually said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kick the door down. It's not hard."  
  
"I can't just kick the door down, that's breaking and entering. We could get arrested for that."  
  
"What and you think that digging up bodies and stealing cars is perfectly normal? You had no worries about doing that, this should be a breeze." Fred was getting more and more impatient.  
  
"Fine. I'll kick the door down. No problem." Bob was inspecting the door wondering how she could do it.  
  
"Bob would you just hurry up, it's pretty simple, just kick it really hard."  
  
"That's easy for you to say. It's not your fingerprints that are going to show up on this is it?"  
  
"Bob, you're using your feet, no one's fingerprints are going to be on it. Either you do it or I will."  
  
"Alright, just give me a minute."  
  
Fred sighed but knew that nothing she could say would make her friend go any faster. Suddenly and almost unexpectedly Bob kicked the door as hard as she could. Fred was relieved that she'd finally done it but her relief was halted when Bob recoiled and nothing happened. The door stayed firm and only Bob was almost lying on the floor. She was trying to keep her weight off her hurt foot.  
  
Fred looked on trying to support Ned at the same time as casting angry glances at Bob was attempting to speak despite her obvious 'discomfort'.  
  
"It's a lot harder than it looks." Bob said whilst hopping up and down.  
  
"Nothing's changed." Ned said in a shaking but almost normal voice. She even surprised herself when she learned that she could speak almost normally.  
  
"You're telling me." Fred smiled back after looking over at Bob who had finally stopped jumping up and down. "I suppose we could just wait for someone else to come in or come out. Or we could call someone's flat and ask them to let us in. Bob, pretend you're a flower person or something."  
  
"Why me? I just nearly kicked a door down."  
  
"Yeah, emphasis on nearly. Besides, I have a bad foot and Ned is technically dead so that only leaves you. Sorry."  
  
"Great. Nice to know we're working as a team again." Bob tried to sound serious but she couldn't conceal the slight smile that crossed her face. "Okay, who should I call?"  
  
"Just pick a random number. It doesn't matter." Fred was getting impatient again, mostly because of the added weight Ned was leaning on her. Her friend wasn't getting any better whilst they were stood outside talking. "Bob hurry up, we need to get her inside." Fred pointed at Ned who was beginning to move towards the floor despite Fred's efforts to keep her stood up.  
  
Bob nodded and pressed the number four button on the intercom. At first no one answered but finally an elderly voice came on the line and asked them who they were, it was almost as if she had it written down. Bob told her that they were delivering flowers and needed to come in. The woman hesitated for a moment before a little red light came on indicating that the door was now open although she made no official invitation.  
  
Both Fred and Bob smiled as Bob opened the door and walked through keeping it open so Fred could almost drag Ned through. When they were through Bob closed the door and helped Fred with Ned. They waited a moment before walking towards the lift, Fred hoped that maybe they had fixed it and that they wouldn't have to walk up those stairs. She was not only worried about Ned but she was also beginning to get tired herself. She didn't want to let Bob know this so suppressed an annoyed sigh when they discovered that the lift was still broken.  
  
They looked over at the stairs, neither wanting to climb them but both knowing they had no choice. They couldn't risk waiting around for too long or meeting someone in the corridors, they didn't want to think what this looked like to other people. They were carrying someone who had come out of a grave just an hour ago. Ned was getting more and more tired as was Fred, which hadn't escaped Bob's notice no matter how much she tried to hide it. The stairs were going to be a completely new challenge, one that no one wanted to face.  
  
They opened the door and looked at what they had to climb. It didn't look so bad to Bob but to Fred who was beginning to feel the strain on her already weakened body it seemed like a mountain rather than stairs. They walked up the first flight and stopped for a moment allowing Ned to rest slightly and for themselves to get a break from pulling her up the stairs.  
  
Eventually after a while of walking up the staircase they finally reached the last door. By this time it was not only Ned that was having trouble standing up but also Fred. It was a lot of work for someone who has only walked as far as the end of a hospital ward and back in the past four weeks.  
  
When they reached the top there was a great temptation to drop Ned and run to the door and throw themselves onto the couch and rest but they both resisted and hauled Ned along the small corridor until they reached Bob's uncle's door. Bob inserted the key which still fit the lock and they helped Ned through. They took her through to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. She instantly fell asleep as if she was too tired to keep her eyes open.  
  
Although Bob and Fred had a lot of questions they wanted to ask her they let her sleep and left the room. Before doing so Fred picked up a blanket from the other side of the room and threw it over the sleeping Ned. She left the room and walked into the kitchen where she found Bob sitting at the table drinking a glass of water. She motioned for Fred to do the same noticing how tired she was. Fred gratefully accepted and sat down and quickly drank the water.  
  
She watched Bob for a moment before stating what they had both been thinking.  
  
"So what now? Maybe we should have taken her straight to a hospital or the police. They know more about this guy Frank than we do. I'm not sure whether we can even treat her; she needs help, probably more than we can give her in a flat. We have no idea what this has done to her. We don't even know if she knows who we are. You saw how frightened she was when we dug her up."  
  
"You're probably right but the police wouldn't know what to do anyway. We'll do all we can for her and then we'll see what happens. I think she does remember us though. Did you hear her at the door, she said that nothing had changed which means she probably remembered us."  
  
"She was confused. Maybe she didn't know what she was talking about."  
  
"Maybe." Bob thought for a moment. "We'll look after her here for a while, if she gets too bad we'll call an ambulance. Okay?"  
  
"Okay. I just hope you know what you're doing." Bob nodded trying to convince Fred that she did.  
  
Fred got up and walked over to the table in the living room. She picked up the flowers from the vase on the table and shook the water off them trying to make them look presentable. Bob looked confused.  
  
"What are you doing? I really don't think that flowers are going to help Ned too much right now."  
  
"These aren't for Ned. They're for the old lady who let us in."  
  
"Great, you're getting sentimental on me now?" Bob smiled, still not understanding.  
  
"There were robberies around here. We told the lady we were delivering flowers and we didn't come. She's going to get suspicious and probably call the police. If I take these to her it might stop her from doing that. Okay?"  
  
"Fine. You know best."  
  
Fred nodded before turning and walking out the door. Before she left Bob stopped her.  
  
"Fred, you look tired, you want me to do that?"  
  
"No, I'll do this, it won't take a moment. You look after Ned. Don't wake her, it's probably best if she slept for a while anyway." Fred smiled at the look of concern on Bob's face. "Don't worry. Everything is going to work out. You'll see."  
  
"I hope you're right. Don't be long, you know more about first aid than I do." Fred nodded and walked out closing the door softly behind her.  
  
Bob smiled once again and went to the bedroom. She wanted to make sure Ned was alright, if that was even possible. She hoped Fred was right and Ned really was going to be okay. Everything had happened so quickly that she hadn't even thought about what it meant that her friend was alive. They were a trio again. Like it used to be, almost.  
  
She went into the bedroom and walked over to the window. She closed the curtains so that the light wouldn't disturb her friend. Bob didn't want to think what it was like being locked inside a box for weeks. The claustrophobia that. She tried to stop herself. She had seen what it did before, with Fred in Orthanc, the constant cries. It all flooded back to her like it was happening. Everything, coming home to find Ned lying dead, the torture, the power, David. She didn't want to think about these things and yet she couldn't stop herself. She had found that happened a lot since that week, she was constantly reliving it. It haunted her, her dreams.  
  
She once again stopped herself, she had to be strong for Ned and Fred, they were the ones that had suffered the most in all of this. She had to stop thinking about all this. Unfortunately it didn't work, she still felt that pain time and time again, heard Fred's desperate cries for help. She couldn't stop them echoing in her mind. She looked at Ned and realised that she was crying, seeing her friend alive, something she never thought possible was brilliant and yet there was still something telling her that something was wrong, that it wasn't that simple. That familiar feeling of dread came back to her as she was forced to bury her face in the sheets to stop it.  
  
After a few minutes she heard a door slam and felt a hand on her back guiding her to lay down on the bed. As much as she wanted to resist her body told her not to. She lay down and fell into a dream-filled sleep that she wished she didn't have. 


	5. troubled times

Disclaimer: I own nothing in Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately the characters (not the people) belong to me. Bob, Fred and Ned. I think I'd prefer Frodo and Sam. sorry. Don't get me wrong I like my characters. just get on with the story and stop rambling. ok  
  
Ch 5 Troubled Times  
  
Bob and Ned were sleeping in the bedroom. That was probably best for them both. Fred had returned from the old lady's and found Bob lying on the bed with Ned still asleep. She had desperately wanted to fall asleep as well but she resisted the urge and left them. Fred was now looking around the flat trying to find anything that would help Ned; unfortunately Bob's uncle didn't keep much medical gear in his small flat so she ended up with some small bandages and some sticky plasters.  
  
Fred threw her coat over the back of the sofa and once again forced herself not to sit down. She went quietly into the bedroom to check on Bob and Ned. Both were still sleeping soundly and Bob had somehow managed to manoeuvre herself under a sheet. Fred smiled at them and walked over to Ned who was also sleeping silently. She put the medical kit, if you could call it that, on the floor and went back into the kitchen to get some warm water.  
  
She quickly returned and also carried some clean towels and some kind of soap. Ned had been underground for four weeks so was obviously a little dirty. Fred set about cleaning Ned up, she wiped the dirt from her face so she could see the small cuts and bruises that she hadn't seen before. Fred didn't want to think about how she got them so forced her mind to concentrate on the task at hand.  
  
Finally Ned was dressed in clean clothes and she looked cleaner although her hair was still a mess, this was something Fred didn't feel she could tackle with just water and towels.  
  
Now Fred turned her attention to Bob who was still sleeping soundly despite the noise Fred had made. She looked at her friend, wondering what had tired her out so easily. She decided to leave her and ask her when she woke up, if she ever woke up. Fred placed a cold towel on her forehead when she felt a slight fever. She closed the door behind her when she left the room, this just left a small amount of light filtering through the think curtains to light the room.  
  
Fred poured the water away and put all the things back where she found them and finally allowed herself to sit down. She sighed and put her head in her hands in an attempt to rid herself of the pounding inside her head. What was going on? Ned had been alive which she knew was impossible, as a post mortem had been performed which would have killed anyone. There was no way anyone could survive that as well as being in a sealed coffin for almost a month with no air, food or water.  
  
None of this made any sense. Bob had known. How? She could see things no doubt but something like that. Ned was clearly unconscious when they found her so she couldn't have sent a 'message'. It wasn't likely that she had done as Fred had in Orthanc.  
  
She really didn't want to try and work this out but every time she tried to forget it she just kept wondering what was going on. She only wished she knew. That word sent a shiver down her spine. Wish, she had heard that word enough already and yet she felt it was relevant somehow. Maybe she really was going crazy or just tired but either way she knew that something was wrong. She hoped Ned could explain it all, she would certainly have a better idea than her.  
  
Fred didn't know when she drifted into the not-so-peaceful sleep but she was glad when it came. Or so she thought. The dreams that haunted her were almost too much and she wished she could wake up.  
  
**  
  
She was in Orthanc. The walls were closing in on her again, just like that first day. The faceless bodies (some literally faceless) were bowing down trying to reach her but not really succeeding. She wanted to run, to get away from those clawing hands. But something was holding her back, in fact something was pulling her back. A hand, a rotten hand was pulling at her own hand. It was pulling but it wasn't strong enough but it was getting stronger.  
  
It wanted her to go with it but she felt that there was nothing but danger outside the cell. The walls, they were getting closer to her, closing in but she couldn't stop them. She screamed and tried to pull away from the hand but no sound came from her mouth and she couldn't move. The hand was gripping her tighter, it was stronger now. It wanted her but she wouldn't let it take her. Someone was calling her name but she couldn't see who it was. She couldn't see anything.  
  
It was dark now. So dark and cold. The icy grip still held her but it no longer tugged at her. She moved away and found out why there was no pressure. The arm was no longer attached to a body; it was on its own. She screamed and was forced to touch it, to pull it off. The flesh was still warm and it made a squelching noise when she touched it.  
  
Finally she pulled it off. She managed to scramble away from it but it moved towards her. She reached the door and stood up against it. She knew there was nowhere else to go and yet she wanted to get further away as it edged its way towards her on its own. She tried the handle hoping it would work but nothing.  
  
Suddenly a figure was standing behind her. It threw a dagger at the hand and it disappeared as if it were blown away. The figure didn't speak to her or do anything else. Before she could even say thank you it was gone. The door, however, was open. She walked through and was faced with the long corridor that seemed to have no ending.  
  
It was so dark, she could see nothing, why was it so dark here? She wanted to reach out and find the person that had saved her but she couldn't move past that terrifying darkness. She took a step forward, not wanting to go but knowing she had to. She saw something, she started walking down the corridor. It came towards her so fast. She couldn't run. She couldn't.  
  
**  
  
Something shook Fred from her dream, nightmare was probably more accurate. She felt a blanket over her and a feeling of warmth. She sighed in relief when she saw the room she was in was flooded with light and wasn't the cell she had seen in her dream. She quickly focused her eyes on the cause of her waking. She found it although it was slightly blurry. Ned was smiling down at her.  
  
She was dressed in clothes that although were too big for her were at least clean. She was wearing men's clothing, which Fred assumed was from Bob's uncle's wardrobe, she was looking quite cheerful, as if she wasn't in any pain at all. Fred wished she could say the same. That dull aching was coming back. In the hospital she was always on painkillers but those must have worn off during her sleep.  
  
Fred attempted to sit up but Ned pushed her back down looking stubbornly at her.  
  
"I think you need to rest. More than I do anyway." She smiled and handed Fred a glass of cold water.  
  
"Thanks. What are you doing up anyway? You should be resting yourself. After everything you've been through."  
  
"Don't worry about me. I feel fine now. I don't feel any pain if that's what you're thinking. Although I think I should from the look of that cut right down me. What happened?"  
  
"Of course, you don't know do you? It's kind of hard to explain and I'm not sure you'll want to hear it."  
  
"I think I almost know what happened. I died right? I remember feeling really cold, like I was in ice but there was still some warmth there. I can't explain it but it felt really strange. Did you do it by the way? Did you get everyone back to Middle Earth?"  
  
"Yeah. Bob did most of it though, she got powers from Gandalf. It's a long story. We were lucky though, if it hadn't been for David." Fred trailed off suddenly remembering what she was saying.  
  
"Who's David?" Ned asked innocently.  
  
"He was.He was no one important." Fred looked down at her hands. Ned sensed the grief in Fred's voice and decided not to say anything else.  
  
"I'm glad you're alright. I didn't know whether Bob would find you in time. We were really worried about you for a moment. I saw a glimpse of what happened to you there. I'm sorry I didn't come myself but I was forced to stay behind by Bob. You know what she's like when she's in charge." Fred smiled sadly trying to make Ned believe that everything was alright. "I'm sorry Fred." Ned said looking at her friend.  
  
"Sorry for what? You haven't done anything wrong. Have you?"  
  
"No. I don't think so anyway. I've only been awake an hour. I meant I'm sorry for everything that happened to you. I know what they did to you, or at least I have an idea. I just wish I could have been more help."  
  
Fred nodded slowly.  
  
"It's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done. Besides you've been through enough to make it even. Were you alive down there? How? I'm sorry, too many questions."  
  
"It's fine but I'd like to wait until Bob's awake before answering any of them. I don't want to relive those things twice." She smiled and Fred nodded in understanding. "What about you?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"What do you mean what do I mean? What were you dreaming about?"  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"You started practically screaming in your sleep. You almost knocked me out when I tried to wake you up. What were you dreaming about? I'm assuming it's not good."  
  
"No. It was nothing important. Really."  
  
"I don't believe you." Ned said.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's a dream I've been having. It's nothing, just old memories. You know?" Ned nodded although she wanted to know more she decided that Fred didn't want to tell her so she should keep quiet.  
  
She walked out to the kitchen and continued making the dinner she had been preparing before she had woken Fred. She was doing everything as normal, as if nothing had happened. Fred sat up on the sofa keeping the blanket wrapped around her hoping it would dull the pain and the chill that was going through her. It didn't really do either of these things.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright? You look a little pale." Ned said looking over at Fred who was shaking her head trying to clear those annoying stars that came to her eyes as she sat up. "Fred?"  
  
"What? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired."  
  
"Why don't you go back to sleep?"  
  
Just the thought of dreaming about that dark cold corridor again made Fred shudder, an action not unnoticed by Ned, although she decided to ignore it and not press her friend about it.  
  
"No. I'm fine. Where's Bob? Isn't she awake yet?" Fred did a quick search of the room half expecting to find Bob there.  
  
"No. She's still sleeping. I thought it best to leave her, she looked tired. Is something wrong with her?"  
  
"I don't know. She just fell asleep when I came back. I left her."  
  
"Probably best, she was digging so much tonight." At first Fred didn't find anything wrong with this statement as it was true, however when she thought about it it didn't make a whole lot of sense. How could Ned possible know that?  
  
"What do you mean?" Fred asked.  
  
"She was digging."  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"It's quite easy to see. Her clothes are covered in mud and you're fairly clean. I gathered it was her that did the digging, someone had to."  
  
"Oh." Fred rubbed her forehead with her hand. Why was she being so stupid? It was obvious.  
  
"Thank you by the way." Ned said interrupting Fred's criticisms of herself.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For everything, digging me out of there. Bringing me here. Cleaning me up." Ned smiled.  
  
"I didn't do much. As you said, Bob dug, I just watched really, and instructed."  
  
"Yeah well you were there and that's all that matters. Besides you cleaned me up even when Bob wasn't there and you had already done so much. You didn't have to do that."  
  
"I did. Trust me. You were covered in mud. I don't think I did too well on the bandaging though, I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can do for the pain."#  
  
"What pain. I don't feel anything, except a slight headache. In fact, you look worse than me."  
  
"Thanks, that's so kind of you." Ned smiled and carried the meal over to Fred. She placed it on her lap. "What's this?"  
  
"It's dinner." Ned said eating hers surprisingly quickly.  
  
"You made this? Ned you should be resting. It's us that's meant to look after you not the other way round."  
  
"Alright. Bob was sleeping and so were you. I didn't want to wake you."  
  
"You should have." Fred said as she ate a little of her food.  
  
"I'm very sorry. Next time I'll wake you if I need help putting food under a grill." Fred didn't like the sarcasm in her voice but couldn't help smiling at the fact that Ned was back to her old self.  
  
"Thank you." Fred smiled. "Do you think we should wake Bob up? Maybe she's hungry." Fred tried to peer into the bedroom from her place on the couch.  
  
"I'll save her some, it's not that good anyway. Maybe you could tell me what happened in Orthanc and how you guys managed to get Frodo and Sam back to Middle Earth. I was trying to figure it out whilst you were sleeping but the only thing I came up with was some kind of portal."  
  
"Your actually not that far off. When Dav.when we broke the Orb it opened some kind of rift that took everything back to where it should have been, including the Fellowship and Wraiths. Luckily for you."  
  
"I died. I wasn't that lucky."  
  
"Good point." Fred laughed. "The rest of it is kind of hard to explain, Bob would probably do it better."  
  
"What happened to your eye? I only just noticed, for some reason my eyesight's not great."  
  
"I.they wanted to know where Frodo and the Ring were. When I wouldn't tell them they thought up more inventive ways to get it out of me. I'd rather not talk about it." Fred smiled, not wishing to hurt her friend but at the same time wanting her to stop asking so many questions.  
  
"Hey, did Bob tell you about Frank?" Ned tried to take Fred's mind off what she was thinking.  
  
"She told me some things, how she killed him. Poor guy."  
  
"Hardly, he was asking for it. Have you ever seen a Hobbit attack a fully- grown man? It's actually quite amusing. And then there was the squirrel; you wouldn't believe that, Bob actually gave it a name. What was it? P- something. I don't know. It was strange whatever it was. It was a real adventure." Ned sighed.  
  
"I bet you loved it."  
  
"Well, everything except the getting stabbed part. He did kill me."  
  
"I always said you were an unsafe person to be around."  
  
Ned laughed. She had hoped that Fred would be the same as when she had left but there was something there that hadn't been there before. A sadness, a loneliness. Maybe it was just her imagination but something was different. Then again, what had happened had changed all of them. Although the changes weren't all for the better.  
  
"Yeah, you were right all along. Maybe I should have listened to you. I suppose that if I hadn't had taken that risk none of this would have happened." Ned looked sincerely at Fred.  
  
"Ned, you did the right thing, if you hadn't of taken Frodo and Sam out of there something bad might have happened to them, they could have been dissected by evil scientists or anything." Fred laughed. "Look the point is if I hadn't of been taken to Middle Earth and needed Bob to save me that Orb may never have been broken and we could all be dead or the world be covered in Wraiths or other awful Lord of the Rings things."  
  
"Maybe you're right."  
  
"I think we all made wrong decisions but we shouldn't blame each other for them, I certainly don't intend to." Ned nodded.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to get some more rest? You look tired." Ned asked, concern etched in her face.  
  
"No, I have probably slept long enough anyway. I have nightmares, I really don't want to go back to them yet."  
  
Ned decided it was best not to ask any more about these nightmares but made a note to herself to make sure she found out more later.  
  
"I should probably take another look at your wounds. I want to check and make sure you're really alright. I don't want anything bad happening after I spent all night digging you up." She smiled as she set her almost full plate of food down on the floor.  
  
Ned might not have been in perfect mental shape but it didn't go unnoticed every time Fred changed the subject. She also didn't miss the fact that Fred had hardly touched her food. These were all things she decided to ask Fred about later, at a better time. There was something very wrong and Ned wanted to know what it was.  
  
Fred came back with the small first aid box she had used earlier; she sat down awkwardly on the couch, another thing that Ned noticed. Fred started rummaging through the box in the hope of finding something she had missed earlier in the dark room. She pulled out some antiseptic cream from the box and checked the label, this was quickly followed by a few bandages and some sticky tape.  
  
"I should probably go out and get some more of these things." Fred said standing up and putting her coat on.  
  
"You want me to go?" Ned asked also standing up.  
  
"I think I can find my way to a shop." Fred smiled.  
  
"Are you going to steal them? You don't have any money Fred."  
  
"Okay that's a good point. Bob's uncle must have left something lying around in here." Fred quickly searched the flat and soon found a small stash of money in a tin on the sideboard. She took it all out and went to leave. "Do you want anything else? Maybe some new clothes? Very cheap new clothes." She added looking at the fairly small amount of money she was holding.  
  
"Yeah. Sure." Ned said although she knew that Fred had already left. Why was she so eager to get away from her? She wished she knew what was really going on. Maybe Bob would have some more answers when she woke up, if she ever woke up. Ned decided to go in and accidentally wake her from her sleep.  
  
**  
  
Fred walked through the streets which were now full of life in the afternoon rush. People barged past her not worrying what happened to her or how she felt. She wanted to get away from all this, this place. She wanted everything to be back to normal. She had Ned and Bob back and she wasn't alone and yet she couldn't understand why she still felt so lonely. What was wrong with her? Almost everything was as it was and yet she still wasn't happy. What was missing? She knew the answer and yet she didn't want to admit it to herself.  
  
She walked into a nearby pharmacist and quickly bought the supplies she needed as well as getting some very strange looks from the people behind the counter. She ignored them and went to buy some new clothes from Ned, anything to get away from that flat for longer. Unfortunately she knew that she had to return eventually. She wasn't looking forward to it. She knew that she would have to answer Ned's questions but at least Bob would be there when she got back.  
  
Fred quickly chose some clothes that she thought were cheap and would fit Ned and left the clothes store again ignoring the looks she got from people. What was wrong with her today? She couldn't understand it. It might have been because she was still covered in mud after last night or that she probably looked as bad as she felt.  
  
Why had she followed Bob?  
  
**  
  
Ned walked into the bedroom not worrying about making any sound, in fact hoping that she would so Bob would awake. She walked around humming. Nothing. She opened the curtains allowing a bright light through which hurt her own eyes slightly. Bob ducked under the covers and mumbled something about it being to early to wake up on a Saturday. Ned finally resorted to sitting down on the bed making as much movement as possible. Still nothing.  
  
She sighed and picked up a glass of water from the bedside table and threw it over Bob's face. That did wake her up. She sat upright in bed with water dripping off her face. She looked about ready to kill someone. Then she saw Ned with the glass still in her hand looking down at her.  
  
"What are you doing?" Bob screamed.  
  
"Sorry." Ned said putting the glass back on the bedside cabinet. "It must have slipped out of my hand."  
  
"Yeah, convenient." Bob began to wipe her face off with the dry part of the bedsheet whilst still looking angrily over at Ned. "You look better than you did last night. Alive at least."  
  
"Thanks for that." Ned smiled genuinely.  
  
"Where's Fred?" Bob asked looking around whilst getting up.  
  
"She went into town to get some medical things and some new clothes for me. Your uncle's are a little big."  
  
"You sent Fred out to do your shopping? Ned are you insane? She shouldn't really even be walking about let alone doing the things you don't like."  
  
"She volunteered. In fact she asked me if I wanted anything. What do you mean she shouldn't even be walking about? She looked alright to me."  
  
"Maybe you should have been more observant." Bob said bitterly as they walked into the lounge.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Ned asked as Bob sat down and picked up the plate of food that Fred had left.  
  
"She was tortured Ned, what do you think is wrong with her?"  
  
Ned stopped smiling and sat down. "I know what happened. I felt it too you know."  
  
"No, you felt a small part. Besides there's more to it than that." Bob was careful what she said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think we should wait until she gets back. I don't want to talk behind her back. What about you? Are you alright?"  
  
"Fred says I'm fine. A little sore but apart from that." Ned spread her arms to show that she really was alright. "She mentioned something that happened in Orthanc. A person I think it was. It began with D." Bob stopped eating. She kenw Ned was talking about David.  
  
"David. He." She was stopped when Fred came though the door and looked at them.  
  
"Am I interrupting something? You two aren't plotting something already are you?" Fred tried to smile but she wasn't sure whether it worked or not. She knew what they were talking about. "I should check your wounds before I forget. We don't want you dying on us again."  
  
Fred put the bag down and threw her coat on the back of the chair. She reached into the bag and pulled out some clothes and some medical things, including a type of anaesthetic and disinfectant. She passed the clothes onto Ned and told her to put them on. Ned disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door.  
  
Fred went to the kitchen and washed her hands under the tap, making sure they were clean before she touched Ned's wounds. She went and sat down next to Bob who was slowly eating the food.  
  
"Glad you're enjoying my lunch." Fred laughed.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"That's alright, Ned cooked it."  
  
"And suddenly I'm no longer hungry." Bob put the plate on the floor.  
  
"Bob, are you alright? You went to sleep pretty fast last night. I was a little worried. I thought you might have seen something else."  
  
"No. I just had a headache. I had been a long day. I'm actually more worried about you. Maybe I should take you back to the hospital."  
  
"I'm fine. Like you said, a long day."  
  
"Are you sure?" Fred nodded and smiled hoping to reassure Bob. "You know that we're going to have to explain all this to Ned. I don't think it's going to be easy. I think you should get out of here for a while so I can explain it."  
  
"I was involved too, I should help." Fred said as she looked through her supplies although she knew that everything was there. "Ned deserves to know everything. Maybe you should tell her though, I'm not very good at describing things."  
  
"Fred."  
  
"Bob, you know it's the right thing."  
  
Just as Bob was about to protest some more Ned came back in her new clothes. She knew that she had interrupted something but from the look of relief on Fred's face she guessed it was appreciated. She sat down and waited for someone to say something.  
  
"Here, let me look at your wounds. Bob will explain everything that happened. At least then we'll know everything." Fred smiled. 


	6. troubled times

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created and I never will, no matter how much I wish.  
  
Ch 6 Unforgettable Tales  
  
Fred began inspecting Ned's wounds, she was surprised at how little pain they caused her, she was almost spilt in half. It didn't make a whole lot of sense but then nothing did lately.  
  
Bob was sat looking down at the floor, not knowing what to say. She knew that she had to tell the story and yet something just didn't want her to, maybe it was the thought of recalling everything that had happened in Orthanc. She looked up at Ned who was waiting for her to speak but there was no impatience in her face.  
  
"I guess I should start where I left you. On second thoughts maybe Fred should tell her story, that way it might make more sense."  
  
Fred looked up at Bob with a shocked look. She didn't know whether she could tell her story, she'd never had to before. Just thinking about those things made her shiver but admitting them out loud would be worse. However, Bob and Ned had a right to know what happened, especially if they were telling their stories as well. At least Bob would say about David.  
  
"I.Okay. I can do that." Fred tried to sound confident but the other two could see how much she was dreading this and both were ready to help her if she couldn't say anymore.  
  
"Fred, I'm sure that it's not all that important if you don't want to tell us." Bob said watching Fred cleaning Ned's wounds gently.  
  
"No, it's fine, it has been four weeks right?" She smiled.  
  
Bob and Ned looked at each other; they were worried about Fred but sure that it would do her some good to relate her story.  
  
"Well, after that pony incident I walked off into the woods, don't ask me why but I did. I was walking around trying to find my way back to camp when I heard something, I figured it was nothing and kept walking. Eventually the Wraith just grabbed me and carried me away. I don't remember much of the journey except that we were flying and that he was holding me really tightly. I also remember how incredibly scared I was, and cold, it was so cold up there.  
  
"Anyway, we finally stopped and landed, I didn't recognise it at first but then I realised it was Orthanc. Saruman was waiting for me, he was expecting me. I didn't know why he wanted me but when he asked about Frodo and the Ring I knew that I couldn't tell him anything, mostly because I had absolutely no idea where you were. You know what I'm like with directions." She smiled.  
  
"He took me to the dungeons, they were just like you think apart from the.the bodies around the walls. There must have been at least twenty of them, mostly Dwarves I think. I didn't look that closely though."  
  
"I saw the same thing, it's where I got the Muithruil from." Bob said. Fred nodded.  
  
"I stayed there not knowing what to do. In the morning, I assume it was morning an Orc came in and gave me some food, unfortunately poisoned food. I actually believed that I was being treated well. It made me see things. Terrible things." Bob and Ned accepted that she didn't want to say any more about that. "Then I was taken to Saruman's 'torture chamber'. That's where I met David." At this Fred smiled.  
  
"Who's David?" Ned asked, she had heard that name before and was keen to know who it was. Bob shook her head indicating that it was something they shouldn't talk about.  
  
"David was." Fred couldn't continue. "David was a friend." She said quietly and concentrated on the wounds that she was covering although she wasn't doing anything to them.  
  
"Fred?" Bob ventured. "What happened after that?" She prompted her friend not wanting to rush her but gently reminding her that she had to tell the rest of the story.  
  
"It was a torture chamber Bob, what do you think happened?" Fred snapped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Bob nodded that it was alright. "After that everything happened. We tried to escape but we were caught and punished. One of the Orcs did this." She pointed to her bandaged eye. "Then Bob came."  
  
Fred was now working on another of Ned's wounds. She tried not to look up into Bob or Ned's eyes knowing that they would only ask her more questions.  
  
"Yeah then I came. I guess it's my turn to take up the story." Bob smiled, she didn't have any of the uneasiness Fred had but looked pleased that it was her turn and that Fred wouldn't have to say anymore. "I was taken by the Ring Wraith, as you know Ned and it took me straight to Orthanc. I didn't have quite the welcome, I was greeted by Orcs and taken to Saruman, I guess I wasn't important enough for an official welcome. Eventually Saruman appeared, he stared down at me a bit and asked me where the Ring was. He asked me a few times and then a bunch of Orcs appeared carrying a poker. Then they brought Fred in.  
  
"I hardly recognised her, she was tied up." Bob hated saying this with Fred sat right next to her but her friend was making herself busy treating Ned's wounds and almost looked glad that she didn't have to tell the story herself. "Anyway Fred trusted me at least, they let her go. They threatened to torture Fred more if I didn't tell Saruman where the Ring was. I didn't of course." She looked sadly over at Fred who nodded that it was okay.  
  
"She did the right thing." Fred said but the slight tremble in her voice was enough to convey how hard this was for her.  
  
"They hit Fred with the poker hoping that I would give in and tell them but I couldn't. They tried to find something that would hurt her more; Saruman knew exactly what he wanted to do. He said he could see everything that went on in the cell although I don't know how. It was a box, crawling with bugs, thousands of them; I've never seen anything like it. I offered to take her place but he wouldn't let me. I think he just liked hurting one person. Fred stopped me though, she wouldn't let me do it for her." Bob smiled. "Thanks for that.  
  
"After that they handed me a hammer like object and some jagged pieces of metal, they wanted me to nail Fred into the box." At this both Fred and Bob looked at Fred's hands, the marks were still there. "I had no choice so I did." Fred could sense the regret in Bob's voice and decided she had to say something.  
  
"She did the right thing, the Orcs would have been far worse." She smiled although it was shaky.  
  
"They locked the box and left Fred in there with the bugs. There was nothing I could do, Fred herself told me that I couldn't tell Saruman about the Ring so. They took me back to the cell after that. Than I found the vest and the medallion. I had the vision then, of Gandalf. He told me that I should have hope and that everything was going to be alright and he passed his power on to me.  
  
"When I woke up an Orc came to get me, in fact several Orcs came to get me. They took me to Saruman's torture room. I met him there, he had no idea that I had this new power so I confronted him I told him that I was capable of killing him now and told him that I knew about the Orb." Bob was about to continue when Ned interrupted.  
  
"Wait a minute, what Orb? Have I missed something?"  
  
"Okay. The thing that granted Frodo's wish to be somewhere else was an Orb, the legend is kind of long and complicated but the Orb can make a person's wish come true provided that person is strong enough to wield it, sort of like the Ring. Under Saruman's control it was powerful enough to open some kind of portal between Earth and Middle Earth. Quite clever actually. If you break the Orb." Bob stopped and looked at Fred who was staring at the wound she was dressing with a vacant look on her face. "Well, you'll find out later."  
  
"Alright." Ned said not fully understanding but trusting Bob to tell her everything she needed to know.  
  
"I offered to allow Saruman to keep the Orb if he reversed the spell and let both me and Fred go but he didn't want to so he tried to attack Fred. It was amazing, I felt so powerful, like nothing I've ever felt before and probably ever will again. You saw it Fred." Fred nodded.  
  
"She was powerful, more so than even Saruman." Fred smiled at the memory.  
  
"Anyway, after that me and Saruman fought. I managed to knock him out. It took a while and a lot of energy but it was worth it. Then I got Fred out and we went to find the Orb. That's where David comes in." Bob stopped and looked over to Fred again who nodded silently. She knew that David was an important part of the story but listening to what happened to him was something she was not looking forward to. "David was a very brave man. We got him out of his cell; he helped Fred through the halls. We were met by another band of Orcs and Saruman, we knew that we had to get past them and the only way to do that was to fight them. Fifty Orcs against three ordinary people. Not great odds.  
  
"Luckily we won and managed to get to the room where the Orb was kept. There was something I didn't tell you about it, the person that broke it would most likely be killed. I volunteered but David insisted that he did it instead. He smashed the Orb which sent us back here." Bob finished her story, pleased that it was over.  
  
All of them sat quietly for a moment just thinking about what had just been said. For Bob and Fred it was a painful reminder of what had happened in Orthanc and for Ned it was a glimpse into what they had suffered whilst she was in the New Forest. Fred had stopped working on Ned but when she realised that tears were building in her eyes she started work again. She bandaged Ned up. Still no one said anything.  
  
After a few minutes Ned looked at Fred who was still looking at the floor with an unused bandage in her hands.  
  
"Fred, are you alright?" Ned asked.  
  
"I'm fine." Fred replied not looking up.  
  
"Fred, you're shaking." Ned grabbed Fred's hand and held it tightly. Fred nodded slightly and allowed a tear to roll down her face.  
  
"He was a good person." She whispered so quietly that the others could barely hear. She pulled away from Ned's grip and walked into the bedroom closing the door behind her. The two girls sat quietly for a moment. The silence was interrupted by the gentle crying of Fred from the next room.  
  
Both of them sat there not wanting to say anything. Ned and Bob both looked towards the door, Ned looked more worried than anything else.  
  
"She didn't tell me everything that happened did she?" She asked.  
  
"Only about a quarter." Bob replied.  
  
"Do you think we should go and see how she is?" Ned asked.  
  
"No, just leave her alone for a while. I didn't know David well but she's right he was a good person and I think she really loved him. She misses him." Bob smiled. "Anyway, you still owe me a story. I've told you everything that happened to us now it's your turn."  
  
"Well, not a whole lot happened after you left, we went a little further into the woods. Then a man came; it was Fred's father I think. He was with Aragorn. Then more of the Fellowship came, all seven of them. Then Aragorn tried to help me but failed, that's all I remember. When they buried me I could feel something but mostly it all seemed normal to me. Like it was meant to be happening, then you dug me up and that was it, everything really was normal again, all except this." She added pointing to her wound from the autopsy. "I think Fred did a pretty good job."  
  
"Ned, Fred didn't really do anything, she cleaned the wound but as far as I know she didn't give you any painkillers. You didn't even notice it when we pulled you out."  
  
"I'm not surprised, I don't think I knew what I was doing back there. Everything was so confusing and blurry. I couldn't hear properly, I don't know, maybe I was just underground for too long."  
  
"You were laid still for almost a month, you didn't need any of your senses so your body shut them down to keep the rest of your body alive." Fred's voice came from the now open bedroom door.  
  
"That makes sense, I couldn't hear, see or smell anything in there I just had a feeling that something was slightly odd."  
  
They all looked at Ned hoping she could put it into words but she just shook her head. Bob sighed, knowing that it wasn't Ned's fault but at the same time feeling a little frustrated. She suddenly and unexpectedly remembered something from her dream that night.  
  
"Ned, after the Wraith had taken me and you Frodo and Sam were alone did you go much further into the forest?"  
  
"No why?"  
  
"There was one other person in there that we needed to keep an eye on."  
  
"Who?" Ned asked.  
  
"Gollum."  
  
"Gollum?" Fred said sitting down on the sofa and looking across at Bob and Ned.  
  
"After you left and Ned was stabbed we realised someone was tracking us. Ned went off into the woods and found Gollum." Bob explained.  
  
"And he wasn't taken back to Middle Earth with the rest of the Fellowship?"  
  
"I don't know." Ned said trying to remember anything that might help. "Maybe."  
  
"No he wasn't. I can feel him. I know it sounds stupid but this morning when I was sleeping I had a dream about the forest and I remember someone still lurking in the shadows, it was Gollum, I'm certain. He's still here."  
  
"Bob, the police combed that area for evidence, they would have found him if he was still there." Fred reasoned.  
  
"Come on, you know how slippery Gollum is. Ned, he got away from us once before he could easily have done it again. He had plenty of forest to hide in. It wouldn't have been hard to keep out of sight of the police."  
  
"Yeah but there were only four of us, if what you say is accurate there should have been hundreds of police looking for Frank. I don't think they would have missed a strange grey creature lurking in the woods."  
  
"He did it before. He followed us for days without us even knowing about it. He could easily hide in the forest and keep out of the way of the police." Bob was getting more and more irritated that they wouldn't believe her.  
  
"Maybe you're right but he wouldn't be able to survive would he?" Fred asked.  
  
"Look how long he managed to survive in Lord of the Rings. He went days without food and water. He could do it if he had to, which he wouldn't in the forest anyway, there's plenty of food and water and shelter. It's a perfect environment for him. He could survive and he had. I know it."  
  
"I don't know Bob."  
  
"I was right about Ned, wasn't I? And I'm right about this. I know I am."  
  
They were all silent for a while thinking about the possibility that Gollum was alive and wandering around the New Forest.  
  
"What if Bob's right? If Gollum really is out there he could cause trouble." Ned spoke to Fred.  
  
"There is no way I am going out there again. Have you completely forgotten what happened last time we went on a 'quest'. I ended up in Middle Earth, Bob got psychic powers and Ned died. I say we let someone else deal with it. We did our part. Surely that's enough."  
  
"Fred you know that's not true. No one else will understand. Besides they'll probably use him as some lab experiment."  
  
"Good. He deserves that."  
  
"Remember the Lord of the Rings story. They should be meeting Gollum soon, if they don't their world changes."  
  
"I can't believe we're even thinking about getting involved in this again. It's too dangerous. Please, lets stay out of it." Fred begged although she knew that the other two were right.  
  
"So what, we just wait for someone else to figure it out whilst Middle Earth is destroyed. Everything we fought for last time will be destroyed, do you really want that Fred."  
  
"No, of course not but."  
  
"We have worked so hard to make sure nothing changed, look what happened to you. Are you really going to ignore all that? Are you prepared to destroy Middle Earth? Come on Fred, after everything that happened. Are you going to let David's death be in vain?" As soon as Bob had said this she instantly regretted it.  
  
"How could you say that? You know I don't want anything bad to happen. And I do know what we fought for. I just don't want it to happen again."  
  
"It might not. We'll make sure it doesn't." Ned reassured her.  
  
Fred thought for a moment trying to understand what they were going to do. She could hardly believe herself when she said yes. After everything that happened and she was going back into the danger zone. Maybe she really had gone insane. Although she knew it was the right thing to do, they had worked so hard to keep Middle Earth from falling, she wasn't going to let all that disappear.  
  
"We leave in the morning then." Ned said getting up and walking to the bedroom. "Get some rest, we might have to do a lot of searching tomorrow." Bob nodded and followed her.  
  
Before going into the bedroom she turned to Fred who was looking down at the floor. "Are you sleeping out here?" Fred nodded but said nothing. "Nothing bad is going to happen Fred, I promise. We're not in danger just looking for Gollum.  
  
"I know. I just.Go and get some rest Bob." She nodded and went into the bedroom shutting the door behind her. Fred sighed and laid down on the couch, she wanted to sleep but memories of what had happened in Isengard wouldn't allow her any rest so she eventually gave up trying.  
  
**  
  
Ned was in the bed whilst Bob was laying on the floor with a blanket over her, she was looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"Ned, are you awake?" Bob almost whispered.  
  
"No." Came the annoyed reply.  
  
"Good. Maybe Fred's right, we shouldn't be going into the woods. Perhaps we should just tell the police or something."  
  
"Who do you think is going to believe us?"  
  
"I don't think it's fair that we should drag Fred back into that forest, she's been through enough. You didn't see what they did to her in Orthanc. What if we just get her into trouble again?"  
  
"We can't chance that Gollum is out there. You know how much trouble he can cause. Fred is coming with us, we can't just leave her here."  
  
"I know that but. I don't know maybe she is just being paranoid but I'm getting a very bad feeling about this." Bob sighed.  
  
"There's only one way to find out. We'll leave early tomorrow morning, if we get there early we can get it over and done with and be back here in time for dinner. Don't worry Fred will be safe, nothing is going to happen to her. 


	7. the search begins

Disclaimer: You know I own nothing from lotr so why ask?  
  
Ch 7 The search begins  
  
The next morning Bob and Ned woke early to find Fred sat up on the couch looking at a piece of paper, when they came out of the bedroom she put it away and looked up. She smiled but it wasn't hard to see the tiredness in her eye. Neither Bob nor Ned mentioned it though.  
  
"When do we leave?" Fred asked.  
  
"As soon as we're ready. We should eat something first then pack a few supplies just in case then we go." When Ned was saying this she noticed Fred pale slightly.  
  
"We're considering staying the night?" She asked trying to hide the shaking in her voice.  
  
"Hopefully not but there's always the possibility, we can't leave those woods without Gollum or without knowing that he is definitely not there."  
  
"Right." Fred took a deep breath and stood up. She was walking to the kitchen when Bob stopped her.  
  
She whispered, "Fred if you don't want to do this, just say. We can take you back to the hospital, you'll be safe."  
  
Bob smiled gratefully and wished she could accept the offer. "What you said last night was right. We can't just destroy everything we've worked for. If Gollum is out there we have to find him." She walked away from Bob and went into the kitchen. "So, what does everybody want for breakfast?" She noticed the reluctant glances. "Unless you want Ned to cook again?" Bob laughed.  
  
"What is that meant to mean? I'm a brilliant cook." She protested but the laughter in her voice betrayed her false anger.  
  
"Yeah, as long as you like everything char-grilled." Both Bob and Fred laughed at this and the angry look on Ned's face.  
  
It was good to hear their friend laughing again and returning to her normal happy self but Bob couldn't help but think that this was false. There was something so forced about her behaviour but she couldn't figure out why, she had been through a lot but there was something else. Maybe it was something to do with David or the search she didn't want to have anything to do with. Bob decided not to ask Fred about it knowing she would just brush it off. She smiled as she heard Ned and Fred arguing about who was the best cook.  
  
**  
  
After almost an hour putting off the inevitable they left. Fred had made them some supplies and Bob had been out and somehow got them a car, although no one asked how she had managed to get the car. They hated to think. Fred grabbed her coat as they left knowing it would be a long day and it would be cold, if not weather-wise them some other penetrating coldness that she couldn't get rid of.  
  
They started off in the car with Bob driving, they knew exactly where they were heading, they didn't like the thought of what they were doing but knowing they had to do it. Fred was sitting quietly looking out the window but there was nothing that she could do to prevent those awful memories coming back to her. It had been the same that night, every time she closed her eyes she saw the dungeons of Orthanc, she felt the never ending torture she had suffered, no matter how much she tried to put it out of her mind it wouldn't go away. Just the thought that there was the possibility she might be taken back there was enough to make her shake.  
  
Ned looked around to the back seat and saw Fred sleeping soundly even though the noise of the traffic was loud. She turned back and looked at Bob and motioned to the back seat mouthing 'she's sleeping'. Bob nodded and returned her concentration to the road.  
  
They went on for nearly twenty minutes before Fred woke up and looked around. Ned noticed she was awake and smiled when she turned around.  
  
"Are you alright Fred?" She asked still smiling but slightly concerned at Fred's pale and slightly distressed face.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get much sleep last night." She returned the smiled although it was much weaker than Ned's.  
  
"Me neither the way Bob snores."  
  
"That is so not true." Bob protested. Both Fred and Ned laughed at her anger.  
  
"So, where are we?" Fred asked looking out the window for any signs.  
  
"I don't know exactly but we're about five or ten minutes away." Ned said looking out the windscreen. "Don't worry I know exactly where I'm going."  
  
"Yeah, right. Ned you can't find your way around school sometimes." Bob laughed as they pulled into the turning that entered the New Forest.  
  
Fred looked up at the forest green signs remembering when they had first came here with Bob's sister. The beginning of a nightmare. Ned and Bob were also uneasy and knew that this was not going to be easy. It didn't take them long to get to where they had arrived before. Bob parked the car and they got out, stretching their legs and looking around. Fred stayed close to the other two as they walked into the open plane that was settled in the middle of the forest, she had no intention of letting them out of her sight. They noticed that she stayed close but didn't mention it.  
  
They were soon walking through the forest and it hadn't escaped their notice that it was getting thicker and thicker and they were getting tenser and tenser. They were keeping a close eye on the thick trees. Bob and Fred were almost expecting a Ring Wraith to suddenly jump out of the bushes and take them away but they knew that they were safe from Wraiths now. Still they walked cautiously making sure they kept a look out for Gollum knowing how slippery he was and not wanting him to get past them. This was going to be harder than they thought.  
  
Bob and Ned knew that they couldn't do this in a day and were dreading telling Fred that they would once again have to spend the night in the place that ruined their lives and killed one of them. They decided to leave it for now just in case they were lucky.  
  
As they got further and further into the forest they got more uneasy, the memories of what had happened in that place were so near. They all stuck close together remembering what happened last time they got separated. Ned was leading, slowly making her way through the trees making sure the path was relatively clear for the other two. Bob came next; she was trying to get through the forest whilst also keeping an eye on Fred who was also sticking close. Fred was constantly looking around her, every sound from the forest she heard she would try and locate it. She jumped whenever a bird flew from the trees or a squirrel darted across her path.  
  
None on them liked this at all. They wanted to be back in that flat and away from these woods but they knew that they had to make sure that Gollum wasn't there and that he wasn't going to cause any trouble.  
  
"So what do we do if we find Gollum Ned?" Fred asked trying to break the silence that was so oppressive in the forest.  
  
Ned looked back, "I hadn't thought of that. We lead him before I suppose we can do it again." She said.  
  
"Great. Lead him with what, the invisible rope you're carrying?"  
  
"Fred does have a point there." Bob said smiling at Fred.  
  
"No, I brought some rope with me, just in case."  
  
"What if he's not here? How are we going to know whether or not he was taken back to Middle Earth? Just because he's not in this little section doesn't mean he's not somewhere in the forest. We might miss him." Fred looked anxiously around.  
  
"Well, we're just going to have to look in the places he's most likely to be. Like near rivers and ponds, he likes fish remember?"  
  
"But we don't have a map of the forest, how are we going to know." Fred stopped suddenly when it dawned on her. "We're not staying here are we? Ned?"  
  
"We might have to."  
  
"But you said that we probably wouldn't have to." Fred was getting more and more nervous.  
  
"I know, I'm sorry Fred but we might not have a choice."  
  
"So you thought you'd trick me into coming. That's thoughtful of you. I wouldn't want to miss out on this adventure."  
  
"Fred are you being sarcastic?" Ned asked.  
  
"Come on Ned, don't tell me you've been underground so long that you've forgotten what sarcasm is."  
  
"Look Fred, none of us want to be out here okay. We all want to be at home with our feet up eating chocolate but that's not going to happen until we find Gollum. Understand?" Fred was slightly taken aback by Ned's outburst but she didn't say anything else and kept quiet as they walked through the forest trying to keep quiet as well as looking for Gollum.  
  
There was nothing to indicate that Gollum was anywhere near this place, no signs that he had ever slept there. They looked at the nearest pool hoping to find some kind of sign like a half-eaten fish or marks that looked like they could have come from Gollum. Still nothing. It was as if he had never been there and yet they knew he had.  
  
"He could be anywhere in the forest by now. This place is pretty big. Besides he wouldn't stay in the same place for too long. Maybe he doesn't know that the Wraiths have gone back to Middle Earth, he would try and hide from them. Perhaps we should be looking somewhere where we know he could hide." Fred suggested timidly.  
  
"Like." Ned asked a little more impatiently than was necessary.  
  
"Like say, Frank's hut. The Ranger's hut. He'd want to find somewhere with shelter and food right? A hut would be that." Fred was startled when Bob and Ned stopped suddenly almost causing her to fall into them.  
  
"Frank's hut?" Ned asked again making sure it was true. Fred did have a point. Gollum wasn't stupid, he'd want to be out of sight and a hut was the perfect way of doing it. "You want us to go back to that place? That's like us sending you back to Isengard Fred. You wouldn't like it would you? That man killed me." Ned shouted unexpectedly.  
  
"You have no idea what you're talking about Ned. You know I'm right about Gollum. If I have to come back into these woods then you can go back into that hut. It was you who said that we couldn't leave until we found Gollum so I think shelter is the best place to look. We might even find shelter ourselves. And I would go back to Isengard in a second if I got the chance to see..." Fred stopped herself before she said the name.  
  
Ned stood still for a moment thinking about what Fred had just said.  
  
"She does have a point. I don't like it there either but we can't just skip it. Gollum might be there and if he is that gives us the advantage, we know that place. I think we should head there. I certainly like the thought of staying indoors tonight rather than out in the woods."  
  
"Fine but if we find a dead body in there."  
  
"I seriously doubt the police wouldn't have found his body. I didn't exactly hide it well did I? It'll be fine."  
  
"Okay. If you say so oh great one." Ned said as she walked off in the direction they knew the hut to be in.  
  
Bob looked at Fred who shrugged her shoulders and motioned for them to follow Ned. Bob did so but shot angry glances at her as she went.  
  
"You don't think there'll be like a police guard there or anything do you?" Fred asked whilst they were walking.  
  
"I don't think there's any need. As far as I know Frank lived on his own with only a knife as a weapon. There would be no need for them to guard the house anyway. If there is we just move on. Gollum wouldn't stay in the house with a guard." Bob answered.  
  
"How do we know they haven't already caught him?" Fred asked.  
  
"Think about it. The discovery of a creature like that, one known from the movies. They would have taken him away to some lab to be tested. I don't think Gollum would have allowed himself to be captured anyway. It certainly couldn't be kept quiet no matter what." Bob was impressed at her own answer.  
  
"I suppose. Maybe they took him to Area 51 or something." Fred laughed.  
  
"You can imagine." Bob joined in. Ned stayed quiet though listening to what the other two were saying. She wished she could share their light- heartedness but there was something about these woods that made her cold and wary. She didn't know what it was and she wasn't rushing to find out but there was definitely something. Something she couldn't describe. Like it wasn't real. It was fake, like she was in a dream or something.  
  
"Are you alright Ned?" Fred asked from the back. Ned turned around and realised she'd stopped, she looked blankly at Fred and turned back around and started walking again.  
  
"Fine." She mumbled as she walked. This time it was Bob who shrugged and walked on.  
  
They didn't understand what was wrong with Ned; maybe it was just that she'd been under ground for so long that she had forgotten what it was like on the outside. Having said that she might just have been anxious to be in the forest after all, they all were, especially Fred who was constantly on the look out for something that might be a Wraith. Bob had told her before she had entered the forest that there was no way a Wraith could have stayed behind and that they were all back in Middle Earth. Fred had said very little but just commented that Gollum had managed to stay so why couldn't a Wraith? She did have a point but Bob argued that it would have been found and was not in the forest any more.  
  
Fred had been obviously anxious when they had come to the forest but Ned had been calm about it, she hadn't even mentioned Frank even though it had been at the front of her mind for some time. She hadn't been looking forward to searching for Gollum but the thought of being outside in the open and not trapped in that flat was a good thing, she felt surprisingly claustrophobic since she had come back and she was pleased to be in the open.  
  
Now they wanted to go to the place that killed her and they had no idea what it would feel like. She knew that their logic was correct and that Gollum might be there but still she was apprehensive about going into that hut again. It had been bad enough the first time but to go back would undoubtedly be worse.  
  
They walked silently not wanting to disturb each other's thoughts but also not wanting to disturb anything in the forest. There was still something eerie about it even though they knew they were fairly safe and that what happened last time couldn't happen again they were still on edge. Fred never let her eyes come off the forest, Ned was making sure that the path was clear and that there was no danger and Bob was thinking about what was wrong with Ned, she had been thinking about it ever since they had dug her up. The strange reaction they had got when she had first seen them. Almost like she was frightened, she remembered thinking that she looked like she had seen a ghost.  
  
Bob tried to take her mind off it and convince herself that she was just being paranoid yet she couldn't get rid of that feeling that had haunted her since she had come back from Middle Earth. Something was wrong and she had no idea what. It was frustrating but she knew that she wouldn't find it out by just thinking about it.  
  
As they drew closer to the hut there was something in the air that told them to be careful and it wasn't just Bob that felt it. The others did too. Ned was the first to notice something different.  
  
"Listen." She whispered as she stopped making the others also stand still.  
  
They listened carefully trying to figure out why Ned was so concerned about sound. They couldn't hear anything although Fred was sure that any second they would hear the loud whistle of a Wraith calling to it's master. She shook her head to get rid of the thought and returned to listening to the real sound, which she still couldn't hear.  
  
"Listen to what Ned? I don't hear anything." Fred said quietly just in case she missed something.  
  
"Exactly. No birds. No noises you'd expect to hear in a forest. It's silent. When was the last time you heard silence in a forest like this?" She looked around and found that even the trees seemed to stand still and didn't wave in the wind.  
  
"She's right. There's nothing." Bob said also looking around. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."  
  
The others looked around them as well half expecting something to jump out at them and take them away. Nothing happened though. No sound. Just that deafening silence. They walked on slowly and as quietly as they could. Still the only sounds were their footsteps on the forest floor. They kept looking in the bushes making sure that nothing was there. The sunlight that filtered through the trees was also making the forest even more spectacular as well as adding to that eerie feeling.  
  
"Ned, there's something wrong with that hut. I know it. I thought I felt something wrong before but now I'm sure. We should be careful." Ned nodded and walked even more slowly along the path that they had walked last time they had encountered the hut.  
  
They came to the small hill that Ned had fallen down last time, just before they had met Frank. Ned crouched low trying to see the hut through the trees that shrouded it. Bob and Fred did the same. They all saw the hut and the sight of it sent a shiver down Bob's spine. Now she was certain that there was something wrong there. It was then that Fred pointed out the smoke coming from the chimney. Someone was in there.  
  
Ned stood up and looked over the top of the small hedge that surrounded the hut and hid the bank. She looked towards the windows but although there was a faint light coming from inside she couldn't see, the sun must have been reflecting off them not allowing her to see inside.  
  
"Maybe we should just leave. There's something very wrong here. I think we're in danger." Bob said as she stood up rubbing her head trying to get the warning to stop pounding on her head.  
  
"We came all this way we can't go back now without finding out what's inside."  
  
"I can. Come on please can we go?" Fred asked turning to leave.  
  
"No. You were right. Gollum might be in here. Anyway Frank's dead so it can't possibly be him. Perhaps Gollum has built a fire. The least we can do is creep up and look in the window. What's the worst that could happen?"  
  
"When someone says that something bad usually does happen." Fred said eager to get away.  
  
"Come on aren't you in the least bit curious?" Ned said smiling for the first time.  
  
"No." Bob and Fred said at the same time.  
  
"Well I am so lets go and get this over and done with." Ned said as she walked in the opposite direction to that which Bob and Fred wanted to go in. They looked at each other. Fred sighed and followed Bob into the woods as Ned led the way.  
  
They crept up to the hut making no noise and keeping low in case someone should come out. They tried to keep near some kind of shelter making sure they could run away easily if they had to. They didn't want to be there and yet they were strangely curious as to who was inside the hut. The feeling that something was wrong was still with Bob but it was faded slightly and was almost drowned out by a cry for help. She couldn't see who it was and she didn't want to make any noise by telling the other two what she felt so she kept quiet pleased that the pounding had stopped slightly.  
  
Ned looked around her making sure no one was coming from the hut, she suddenly moved out into the open, still keeping low and ran towards the hut. Fred and Bob looked at her and shook their heads as they followed her in much the same way. They all stopped at the hut and looked in the window. There was nothing that they could see. Someone was obviously inside because they could see the light of flames dancing on the wooden walls.  
  
There were towels on the floor and a set of clothes laying next to the fire but they couldn't see who was inside. Bob and Fred wanted to turn back and Bob was about to tell Ned but before she could she felt a pain in her head and she put her back to the hut and slid to the floor. Fred was instantly at her side asking her what was wrong. Bob shook her head and pointed to the hut telling them that whatever was causing this was inside.  
  
"Frank?" Ned mouthed making sure she didn't make a sound. She was relieved when Bob shook her head and stood up helped by Fred.  
  
"Something else." She whispered. "Something.something wrong." Was all she could say.  
  
Ned nodded and they walked around to the front door. They were walking quickly mostly hurried by Bob who seemed to be suddenly very eager to get inside the hut. They reached the front door and Ned checked and saw it had a padlock on it. Probably put there by police.  
  
Ned slammed into the door so it broke when she hit it. She crashed through and stopped when she saw the figure huddled in the corner shaking and moving even further backwards at her dramatic entrance. Bob and Fred followed her and looked towards the figure. Fred's face changed from frightened to completely surprised and saddened when she realised who the figure was. She went deathly pale and almost collapsed.  
  
"Oh my God. David." She said as she rushed towards him. 


	8. A shocking discovery

Disclaimer: I own nothing lotr unfortunately. I do own the characters of Bob, Fred and Ned and David is mine, all mine. Sorry.  
  
A/N: Please tell me if this is getting too confusing and please review. I love getting them and I promise this time I'll try and respond to them. I know I always say that and I never do but this time I really will try. Your reviews fuel my imagination.  
  
Ch 8 A Shocking Discovery  
  
Fred was instantly at his side trying to calm him down. She couldn't really believe what was happening, there was no way David could be there, it was impossible. She wanted to ask him so many questions but knew they would have to wait until he was less frightened. She made sure she was facing him and that he could see who it was. When she looked at him he seemed to calm down a little and he looked straight back at her as if trying to see if it was really her or whether it was yet another trick by Saruman.  
  
He slowly and cautiously lifted his hand and touched her face. He felt her, she was real. He couldn't understand what was going on. He stroked her face until she gently touched his hand and held it tightly making sure he understood that it was comfort instead of danger. On doing this he seemed to relax a lot and held onto her hand equally tightly obviously reluctant to let go.  
  
"Fred?" He croaked. "I thought I'd never see you again." He smiled although it seemed to take a lot of effort.  
  
"Snap." She said quietly.  
  
He leaned towards her and held her tightly leaning his head on her shoulder, she heard him crying softly, she also felt the blood on his shirt. She thought it best to leave him for the moment. Something was wrong but she would let him calm down before she went into that questioning. When he looked up at her she knew that she didn't even need to ask what had happened to him for him to get the numerous cuts and bruises on his face. Saruman had done this to him.  
  
Bob and Ned watched silently in amazement as the two sat together in the corner just looking at each other like they had been apart for years. Bob understood this far better than Ned who was now looking nervously outside for any danger whilst Fred was looking at David's bruised face.  
  
"Bob, do you feel safe here?" Ned whispered.  
  
Bob looked around slightly startled by Ned's interruption of her thoughts. She looked at her confused for a moment before replying that she felt safe although she could sense that there was danger near-by. Bob was surprised that Ned finally believed that she could sense things but her mind was too occupied with Fred and David.  
  
"How did you get here?" Fred was asking quietly as David leaned against her once more.  
  
"I.I have no idea, I just arrived at this hut and built the fire. I don't remember much of what happened after I got out of Orthanc. I think I was hurt but I don't know."  
  
"You got out of Orthanc, how? I thought it was impossible, you remember what happened when we tried."  
  
David nodded. "They made it easy for me. They let me go, then I was shot and that was the last thing I remember, somehow I got here."  
  
Fred held onto David whilst he was telling his story, she couldn't quite believe what was happening. Why had Saruman allowed David to leave when he had worked so hard to keep him there? And another thing,  
  
"Why are you alive?" Fred said suddenly causing David to look up. "You died when the Orb broke. I saw you."  
  
"You saw what Saruman wanted you to see. They were real flames but my body didn't burn it was like I was protected by some kind of bubble or something. Look this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either so.I'm just so pleased to see you again. I never thought I'd." He threw his arms around here again and hugged her tightly. She did the same. Suddenly she felt safer than she had since she was in his arms in Orthanc.  
  
She turned around to Bob and Ned who were looking on in fascination.  
  
"Are we safe here? I think we should stay here for the night. It beats sleeping outside. We have a fire and I don't think it would do David good to move right now."  
  
Bob and Ned nodded in agreement.  
  
"You should be careful. There's something out there. I don't know what but I heard something a few hours ago that's why I locked the door." David said letting go of Fred and leaning against the wall.  
  
"I think we should try and make this door more solid and stay here the night like Fred said. We're probably safer here than outside anyway and I have no desire to stay out there if something is hunting us." Ned said closing the door and shutting out the cold wind that had been blowing in for some time.  
  
"I know there's something bad out there. I can sense it but I don't think its Gollum. It seems more wild." Bob added walking over to the fire and warming her hands in front of it. "By the way, it's good to see you again David." She smiled.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot, this is Ned." Fred introduced Ned who was looking out the small window of the hut nervously.  
  
"Hi. I've heard a lot about you David." She said not really looking around to see him. He nodded and smiled at Fred who gave a small shake of her head.  
  
"We should collect some more wood for this fire. We want to keep this place warm." Bob said.  
  
"It'll take a lot more than a fire to warm this place." Ned said looking around the small wooden hut.  
  
"You know that Frank is dead, there's no way he can come back. I don't think he would mind us borrowing his home for a while." Bob smiled. Ned nodded but couldn't hide the nervousness that was taking over her thoughts. There was something wrong in there but she couldn't quite work it out, Bob didn't feel it so maybe she was wrong.  
  
**  
  
It was almost dark by the time Bob had come back with the wood and Ned was keeping a lookout through the window. She pretended that it was in case they saw Gollum but she was still worried about the fact that she had been hurt here before and it might happen again. She couldn't understand why no one else felt it. Maybe it was just her imagination. She shook her head hoping it would clear it. The hut gave her the creeps she didn't like being in there but she knew they couldn't just abandon David and he was too weak to walk through the forest even with their help.  
  
Ned sighed and turned away from the window as Bob walked in with the wood. She put it down on the floor noisily, which got a warning from Fred that David was asleep. Fred had been tending to his wounds since Bob had left; she was just finishing when he fell asleep. She hadn't wanted to wake him so just left him hoping he would build up his strength so they could walk out of there.  
  
Fred got up and walked over to where Bob and Ned were standing. They had to work out what they were going to do next.  
  
"We can't stay here tomorrow as well. It's too dangerous. If something is following us we'll need to keep moving so it can't attack us if it is dangerous." Ned whispered receiving nods from the other two.  
  
"David should be okay, he said he was shot or something but it must have been some time ago, the wound is already healing. That's the good news. The bad news is that he's still weak; I don't think he's eaten much the past few days and he's been in here for some time. I'm not sure whether he'll be able to walk by tomorrow but he's pretty determined so you never know." Fred smiled and looked over at the sleeping form of David.  
  
"Even so, we came out here to look for Gollum and that's what we have to do. David's human right?" Ned asked. Fred nodded. "Then as soon as we get out of the forest we take him to a hospital. And get you back there Fred." Fred looked at the ground and shook her head.  
  
"I don't think you'd ever get him into a hospital. He's far too stubborn." She whispered with a slight hint of humour in her voice.  
  
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, what's important now is that we keep safe in here for tonight and get out of this forest as soon as we can. Hopefully we won't have to go too far to find Gollum but you never know. For tonight I suggest we keep to the hut and stay low. We find something to strengthen the door just in case and don't go out there. Something is hunting us according to David and I'm not taking any chances. I think we should get weapons as well, we might need to fight whatever it is." Ned suggested.  
  
"Ned whatever's out there I don't feel anything but annoyance. Like we shouldn't be here. Maybe we should leave." Bob looked around her.  
  
"No, we're far safer in here than outside. Besides I don't think he's in any fit state to move and we could use some rest after all that walking." Fred nodded. "We're agreed then?" Bob also nodded although more reluctantly.  
  
"Okay, but just be careful, there's something out there and it is very angry with us."  
  
"Is it Gollum?" Fred asked.  
  
"No, it's something else and it doesn't seen nice. I think we need to get ready to fend it off if it comes near." Bob whispered as if someone was listening and she didn't want them to hear. Fred nodded and looked around.  
  
"Maybe we should keep a look-out, just in case something happens during the night. At least then we'll have a slight warning." Fred suggested.  
  
"Good idea. I'll go first, Fred you next and then Bob last. The rest will get some sleep and take over when it's there turn."  
  
"You'll have to keep an eye on David as well. I'm still worried about him. Just shout if anything changes." Fred looked over at him.  
  
"And if you see anything unusual shout and we'll all be ready." Bob said.  
  
"Oh don't worry. If anything dangerous comes anywhere near you'll hear me scream long before it gets here." Fred laughed although the others knew she was very serious.  
  
Ned went to put some of the wood next to the door as a little more protection although she knew that it wouldn't do a whole lot of good if something did try and break in. It would at least make them feel a little safer to know there was slightly more protection against whatever was out there. Whilst Ned was doing that Bob was making sure the fire was burning strongly and constantly putting wood on it.  
  
Fred was looking after David, she kept looking at him, checking over her shoulder to make sure he was still there and that this wasn't just a dream like all the other times. It always surprised her when she saw that he was still sat there sleeping peacefully. Although she didn't understand why he was there or how he managed to get to Earth she soon decided that she didn't really care anyway. He was with her and that was all that was important. The only problem was that seeing him again reminded her of all the terrible things she went through in Orthanc, still the good feeling she got at seeing him again was enough to balance out those feelings.  
  
Eventually everything settled down in the hut and Ned took up her position at the window. They had found some weapons that Ned had packed, thinking that maybe they would need them for Gollum. Although they weren't much, just knives really they still made the three girls feel safer.  
  
Fred sat close to David and Bob close to the fire. It was almost completely dark by then and the blackness was beginning to make all of them anxious. Suddenly Ned wanted to be back in that flat that she hated so much. It was better to be claustrophobic in a safe place than to be in open space but be in terrible danger. The feeling of fear was very evident in the hut now. It was making it almost unbearable but no one dared to speak just in case it disturbed something outside. Even the slightest sound made them jump even if it was just a small creak that couldn't possible have been the hunter.  
  
The fire cast dark shadows on the walls and in the corners of the small hut, which made them even more nervous at not being able to see all of it even though it was quite small. The orange flames which normally would have been relaxing made them jumpy and the crackle of the fire could have drowned out the sounds outside that they should have heard.  
  
"You should try and get some sleep." Ned said making both Bob and Fred jump slightly. "You have to watch tonight as well. There's no point in us all staying up all night." She looked at them and smiled. "Don't worry, if anything happens I'll shout. You'll be safe I promise."  
  
"Yeah, you remember that I never feel safe around you? Well." Fred smiled.  
  
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you whilst I'm on watch." Ned insisted trying to sound confident and certain although they didn't look that convinced.  
  
Bob and Fred nodded and Bob leaned back against the wall whilst Fred leaned over and rested her head on David's shoulder. He moved to put his arm around her protectively; she smiled when she remembered that he had done the same thing many times in Isengard. She snuggled in closer and closed her eyes. Before she fell asleep she said to Ned,  
  
"Don't forget to wake me." Ned said something that Fred couldn't hear probably because she was almost half asleep.  
  
**  
  
She was in the corridor again, something was running towards her but still she couldn't move. She wanted to though, she was so afraid. She knew if she didn't move she would die and yet her legs just felt like lead. It was so black and dark, it looked like a Wraith but there wasn't the evil feeling that went with the Nazgul. This was different. Strangely she didn't feel that scared all of a sudden, it was as if she almost wanted to see what it was. There was a malice there that she wanted to uncover and still something told her she should be running and not just staring at the thing running gracefully towards her although she noticed that it didn't seem to be getting much closer.  
  
She stood there waiting for something to happen although nothing did. She could feel it, it was so close now and yet it looked to be so far away. Why? Why wasn't it reaching her?  
  
All of a sudden it seemed to come at her far more quickly like it was unleashed. It was instantly in front of her but abruptly came to a halt at her feet. It was smaller now; either that or she had grown. It looked almost scared and yet it had a feeling of great power about it. Fred looked down hoping to see what was hiding underneath that thick black cloak.  
  
She went to lift the hood back and was surprised when it suddenly drew out a glittering, almost shining sword. It held it in front of its face as a salute to Fred but didn't move any more. She once again held out her hand and went to touch the sword, she no longer felt the fear that had been there a few moments ago. When she touched it it felt cold, she pushed against it and gasped and pulled her hand back when the image wavered and her hand went right through.  
  
It wasn't real. The sword wasn't really there and yet it looked real. That feeling of coldness that she had experienced when she had touched the sword seemed to be going through her whole body. It was spreading and she couldn't stop it. By now she was shaking and was cowering closer to the floor. She couldn't figure out whether it was because of the cold or fear.  
  
Before she fell she reached out and pulled the hood of the black thing back. She did it slowly not wanting the thing to hurt her any more. What was it and why was she so afraid of it? The hood was peeled back revealing...  
  
**  
  
Ned shook Fred over and over again, accidentally waking David in the process who groaned slightly and woke properly. He realised Ned was calling for Fred to wake and gently shook her gently as well. He moved his arm to rouse her.  
  
That did work. Fred sat up straight and looked alarmingly around her. She saw Ned looking at her worriedly and shook her head trying to clear away the nightmare. That awful image of the hooded figure wouldn't leave her.  
  
"Fred are you alright?" Ned asked concerned, she was still holding onto Fred's arm and could feel her shaking. "Fred?"  
  
"I.I'm alright." She could hear her voice shaking. "It's nothing, just a bad dream that's all." She tried to smile but she didn't know whether it worked or not and from the look on Ned's face she guessed not.  
  
"Are you sure? You look a little pale." Ned persisted.  
  
"I'm fine. Really. Is it my turn to watch?" Fred was standing up.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright? I can do lookout for another few hours if you want to get some more sleep. Really maybe you should get some more rest. We did a lot of walking today." Ned said standing with Fred; she still kept her hand on Fred's arm noticing her friend was a little unsteady.  
  
"No, I'll keep lookout like we agreed." Fred nodded when Ned once again shot her a concerned look. "I'm fine Ned, honestly." Once again she smiled. This time it must have been convincing because after looking at David she nodded and sat down.  
  
"Fred, if you feel unwell I want you to wake me and I'll take over." Ned said very seriously.  
  
"Don't worry I am fine. It was just a nightmare." Fred insisted although she could tell that Ned really knew that it was more than that. She couldn't blame her, if she looked as scared as she felt she must have looked terrible.  
  
"I think I'll stay up with you for a while if you don't mind Fred." David said standing up as well.  
  
"David really I'm fine. I don't need you to stay up as well." Fred said looking him in the eyes.  
  
"I know. Remember that time in Orthanc you stayed up with me when I wasn't feeling great? Well, now it's my turn to help you." He said taking her hands.  
  
"I think you already have." She smiled at him.  
  
"Maybe but I can't sleep anyway. I'd like to talk you again. It's been a long time." David smiled at her, she knew that look, he wasn't going to give in. She nodded and smiled at him.  
  
They walked over to the window. Secretly she was glad that she didn't have to stand on her own all night. She didn't want to be on her own and the fact that David was there was even better, it would be nice to spend some time with him. Plus he was a far better fighter than her so he could chase whatever was coming away.  
  
They sat down on the small ledge on the window and looked out for a few moments, they didn't say anything but occasionally they looked over at each other and smiled. They had hardly spoken since they had they had seen each other, David had been ill, now though he looked.he looked almost as though nothing had happened.  
  
"Are you alright David?" He looked at her confused. "I mean you're not in pain are you? It's just you look like nothing's happened."  
  
"I'm fine, I really feel normal. Why do you ask anyway?" He asked looking through the window anxiously.  
  
"What do you mean? When we came here you couldn't even stand up and now you're fine. I know it's been a while since I was in Orthanc but I remember Saruman's torture methods lasting longer than a few hours. What is going on? There's something you're not telling me. I know there is, so what is it? You know you can trust me, you always did before." She looked into his eyes, which seemed full of regret.  
  
"I'm not sure whether you really want to hear this." He said gazing past her.  
  
"So there is something. Look, you know what we went through together, how can you not trust me now?"  
  
"I just.I know what I'm going to tell you will upset you and I want you to stay calm about it and not shout out alright?" Fred nodded. "This is going to sound slightly 'odd' but you have to believe me."  
  
"You know I will." She said taking his hand in hers for comfort and to encourage him to tell her. She also tried to hide the impatience in her voice; this secrecy wasn't like him at all.  
  
"Alright, but I warn you. You cannot tell your friends about this, not yet, they're not ready to understand. If you tell them it could do them more damage than good. Do you understand?"  
  
"Of course. If you say so." She said confidently although his strange behaviour was starting to make her nervous.  
  
"I suppose I should start at the beginning, or in your case the end. When I broke the Orb I was protected by something. I'm not sure whether it was Saruman or something within the Orb itself. All I know is that I survived. I saw you and Bob being thrown through some kind of hole, which appeared, and I assumed you were taken back to Earth, which you were. I was left behind though. It took me a while to realise what happened.  
  
"I was still in Orthanc and left with Saruman but the strangest thing was that the Orb was still whole. You saw it smash and I too but it was there, in one piece but there was no colour to it. It was just a normal crystal. Saruman took it but didn't know what to do with it. He assumed that I did, that's why he kept me there. He tortured me for information for a long time. I couldn't tell him anything simply because I didn't know what happened any more than he did. I kept insisting that I had nothing to do with it but he wouldn't believe me. You know how persuasive he can be.  
  
"All the while he was trying to make the thing work again, I'm not sure he ever did but from the shouts and screams I heard from his private chambers I'm saying he didn't get it working. He grew ever more frustrated until my torture almost became too much. I think he must have got bored with me because he gave up pretty quickly and threw me in the dungeon."  
  
"I'm sorry." Fred said as David paused taking a deep breath.  
  
"Don't be. It's the best thing that ever happened to me. It sent me back to you." He smiled lovingly at her.  
  
"I'm not sure I understand. How does being in a dungeon after days of torture suddenly take you to Earth? Have I missed something in the story?" Fred said trying desperately to work it out in her mind.  
  
"I'm sorry, this must seem very confusing to an outsider. You remember that I said that Saruman set me free?"  
  
"Yes. But how did you get from Isengard to Britain? I don't think there's a ten o'clock train."  
  
"When I say Saruman set me free.I'm probably not explaining this very well am I?" He sighed and tried to think of a better way of putting it. "Saruman, as I said can be very persuasive. You yourself have seen people die in those dungeons." He trailed off hoping now she'd understand. "He set me free by killing me. Just like he did you."  
  
"What?" Fred said simply.  
  
"Come on, you haven't wondered why Ned is 'alive'? Why she's not hurt? Why she could climb out of that grave?"  
  
"She was poisoned, it brought he back to life after a few weeks." Fred said looking at the floor and thinking about what she had just heard.  
  
"No. There's no poison that could do that. And you. Look at how you survived. You and Bob should have been dead after being sent through that hole. And yet you survived."  
  
"It was magic. It wouldn't have killed us." Fred said shaking her head trying to make some sense out of it all.  
  
"You know that's not true. You were never in the hospital Fred, not you as a living being. When the search party found you they found the dead bodies of Roberta and Winifred. Not the living you."  
  
"That's not true." She cried out. "Why are you saying these things?" He tried to calm her.  
  
"Shh. You'll wake your friends. Please they mustn't know. I probably shouldn't even be telling you."  
  
"How could you? Why are you lying to me?" She was crying now. She tried to pull her hand away from him but something told her that she should stay and keep quiet.  
  
"I'm not lying to you. I would never do that. You know that. Please you have to believe me. Fred. I love you; I was given a second chance. We're together again, that's all that matters. Please. You have to believe me, I would never lie to you." He begged with her.  
  
Fred tried to calm herself. "Why can't I tell the others?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Because they're not ready to know. Fred things are happening. Bad things. I don't know what they are at the moment but I know something is happening. Your friend can sense them; you should trust her she knows more than she's letting on. Understand Fred Bob was right. Gollum is still here and you are the only people that can get him out of here and back to Middle Earth where he belongs but there are other people looking for him and now you. Bad people that would kill you as soon as they got the chance. You can't let them. You have no idea how important the three of you are. Middle Earth relies on you."  
  
Fred tried to take all this in. It didn't make any sense and yet she knew he was telling the truth.  
  
"Why am I still hurt? You said Ned wasn't so why am I still feeling like I should be in hospital?"  
  
"It has different affects on different people. Bob and Ned are probably feeling the same discomfort but it's not real. I know this is hard to understand but please try."  
  
"How do you know all this?" Fred asked looking at him calmly for the first time since they had began.  
  
"I don't know. You remember when Bob said that she just knew about the Orb? It's like that. I don't know how I know I just do. Fred I'm having a hard time explaining this. I never wanted to hurt you but it's the truth. Do you believe me?"  
  
Fred thought for a moment. She wanted to say no so much but she realised that she did believe him. "Yes." She whispered. "Does this mean that we can be together forever now?"  
  
He smiled that warm inviting smile. "That means nothing can take you away from me. Not now. You're mine forever."  
  
"I like the sound of that." She leaned forward to kiss him.  
  
Just before their mouths could meet something smashed through the glass window shattering it over them causing them both to fall to the floor, hands over heads to shield themselves from the splinters of falling glass. The others woke up as the thing came flying through the window landing in the middle of the hut.  
  
TBC 


	9. attack in the dark

Disclaimer: I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not Tolkien so no unfortunately I don't own anything that he created. I own David and the three main characters but that's it.  
  
A/N: This is quite an odd chapter so if there is anything that people don't understand review and ask me, I'll try and answer. If not then review anyone because I write for you, and my own pleasure of course.  
  
Ch 9 Attack in the Dark  
  
The dark figure was well over six feet tall. In fact almost seven feet. It towered above the four people. Fred and David were still crouched on the floor, David shielding Fred from the occasional falling of sharp glass. He had a few cuts on him but he was alright and was soon standing and pulling Fred to her feet. They faced the monster and for the first time Fred got a good view of him. It. Whatever it was.  
  
It was tall and very large but at the same time it had something frail and vulnerable about it. It looked like it couldn't be defeated and also that it wouldn't be. Something told Fred that this thing wasn't there to just frighten them but to kill them. Although at that exact moment it didn't seem to be doing anything, just standing there looking at them through the black hood that was drawn over its invisible face. It was because of this that Fred recognised it. It was the creature from her dream, the thing that had been staring at her with unseeing eyes.  
  
In real life, if that's what she could call it, it was even more terrifying. She knew this was real and no one could wake her up to take it away, she also got the feeling that this thing wouldn't just stand there and watch her without drawing its sword.  
  
By this time Bob and Ned were also stood up on the other side of the hut with the creature in between them and David and Fred, and worse, the door. They quickly realised there was no way of getting past that thing without fighting it. All they had were a few knives and their hands but they didn't know how useful they would be against something that looked so powerful. It was almost like a Ring Wraith but there was something spookier about this creature.  
  
Strangely the shadow didn't move. It just stood there staring into space like it was waiting for orders to do something. Almost like a robot. Unfortunately Bob was too scared to move anyway and Ned knew that if they ran for the door it would startle the creature and it would probably kill them. This was a very big problem. They had no idea how to kill something like that; all they knew is that they couldn't stay there all night waiting for something to happen.  
  
Ned got her knife out and nudged Bob who took the hint and did the same only more slowly in case the creature saw her. Fred and David saw what they were doing and did the same thing. David, with his knife drawn edged towards the doorway trying not to make a sound and twisted the handle. He pulled the door open but in doing so seemed to make the shadow jump to life. It rushed towards him and Fred who were by now diving out of the way.  
  
The shadow swung its sword at them full force and they just managed to jump out of the way before the sword hit them. During this Fred couldn't help but notice the small stone embedded in the hilt of the sword. It looked just like the Orb David had destroyed in Middle Earth. This didn't make much sense seeing as there was only one Orb which was, according to David, useless. As far as she could remember there was no creature like this in Middle Earth anyway.  
  
Fred hadn't time to think about this anymore. The creature was attacking them with the sword again. It was so strong. It seemed to be going after David mostly, probably because he kept swiping at it with his own knife. Fred was suddenly reminded of that day in Orthanc where he had fought off the Orcs with her. She hadn't been a lot of help then but she could be now.  
  
She leapt forwards and slammed into the creature. David and the others, seeing what she was doing tried to do the same but the creature held out his sword and send them crashing to the ground. They were thrown back with such force by the blue-white light that they didn't have time to think. Strangely Fred was still fighting with it, it was like she hadn't been affected by it.  
  
David was the first on his feet and back helping Fred who was desperately trying to keep the creature away from her using only a small knife against his full-sized sword. David threw himself at the creature again whilst the other two picked themselves up from the floor and ran towards the creature again.  
  
Soon the thing was swamped by them again. It screamed as David thrust his knife into it's black back and twisted it around so the creature fell to it's side, almost crushing Bob in the process. Luckily she managed to avoid it by rolling out of its way. Fred and Ned were left standing by the side as David attacked the thing.  
  
Before anyone could do anything the creature lifted its sword to David and once again that bright light came from the sword throwing him across the room. He landed awkwardly against the wall. He was bent over trying to catch his breath. He waved to the other three who were heading towards the door. Ned was guiding Fred who was trying to get back to David.  
  
"Go." He whispered before going back towards the creature who was now standing again looking a little dazed but no less dangerous.  
  
Bob and Ned pulled Fred through the door and out into the open. They stopped for a moment catching their breath. Fred was looking anxiously towards the door and when she heard the shout from David she rushed towards the hut again. Bob caught her just in time.  
  
"No Fred, there's nothing you can do." She held onto her.  
  
"I won't lose him again Bob. I can't." Still she struggled to get free but Bob held onto her tightly not letting her go back into the hut even though the blue-white flashes were getting more intense.  
  
One more scream from David was all it took. Fred tried to get away again but still she couldn't. She looked down at her knife wondering whether she should use it on Bob. Something suddenly hit her. On the hilt of that creature's sword there had been a bit of the Orb. Maybe if she could.  
  
She stopped struggling so Bob released her grip slightly. Instead of running towards the hut she went to the edge of the trees moving as quickly as she could and searching the ground. Bob and Ned looked on in confusion. Fred picked something up off the floor. When she got closer Bob and Ned realised she was carrying a rock.  
  
"Fred what are you doing?" Bob asked.  
  
"There was a bit of the Orb on its sword. If I break it it might kill the creature." She said walking determinedly towards the hut. She couldn't just let David die in there.  
  
"You don't know that it'll work. Fred, that thing will kill you if it gets the chance." Bob shouted standing in front of her so blocking her entrance to the hut. They were constantly distracted by the occasional blasts coming from inside.  
  
"I only just got him back, I won't lose him again." She screamed pushing past Bob. "If I can kill this thing I have to. I'm not going to abandon him, he wouldn't do it to me." She was almost at the entrance now.  
  
Bob had backed off, not wanting to stand in the way but wishing she could do something to stop Fred from doing such a stupid thing. The thought that her plan might work was too appealing. She didn't want David to die either but she didn't want to lose her friend because of him. She took a step forward when Ned grabbed her arm and stopped her.  
  
"Leave her. I get the feeling this is going to work." Ned shouted above the noise.  
  
Fred continued to go towards the hut and when she reached the door she paused for a moment remembering what David had told her and everything that had happened. She checked the stone's weight again, wanting to be absolutely certain this would work, then she stepped into the hut.  
  
She was met with a scene that she would never forget. David was fighting with the shadow but every so often it would strike out with the power from the sword and send him back. He never stopped though, each time it pushed him away he came back and resumed the fight. Fred had never seen him look so angry. It was like the shadow had done something worse than just fight with him. Once or twice Fred swore she saw a flash of happiness rush across his face, quickly replaced by the anger. This scared her almost as much as the shadow.  
  
She was snapped into her senses when David shouted her name. The shadow took advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration and send a great charge from it's sword which hit him with full force and knocked him unconscious against the opposite wall. Fred resisted the urge to run to him but stood firm as the creature turned to face her.  
  
Face her, probably wasn't the right expression. It didn't have a face, which in fact made it all the more terrifying. She wanted to run, just grab David and run but she knew the thing would kill her before she even reached him. It would also kill Ned and Bob and she wasn't going to let that happen.  
  
It seemed to stop what it was doing, like it was listening to something, maybe her own thoughts. She didn't know and didn't really want to find out. She thought she saw the shadow waver slightly but tried to convince herself that it was just her overactive imagination. After all, all of this was very strange and she had just about been pushed to her limits. She glanced across at David who was just coming back into consciousness. The shadow also looked that way. Fred was certain that if it had a face it would be smiling wickedly.  
  
Then, the strangest and most unexpected thing happened. The shadow that had been fighting and trying to kill them all just a few moments ago knelt down. Fred didn't know what to do. She hadn't even hit its sword. It let its head face the ground, like it was ashamed of something. Then, slowly it raised its sword so it was in front of its face.  
  
Just like the dream. Fred thought. She could see the thing in her dream so clearly now, it was exactly what was happening in real life. The black- cloaked figure was kneeling down with its sword in the same position. Could it have been reading her mind? She didn't understand.  
  
David was now awake and sat leaning against the wall looking at what was going on in front of him. He wanted to move but found that something held him against the wall, an invisible force that he couldn't compete with. He knew it came from the thing attacking them.  
  
Fred looked confused at the creature hoping that maybe it would offer some kind of explanation but nothing. It didn't move, it didn't even look alive as far as she could see. If it was alive in the first place. She took a step closer, she was cautious but at the same time eager to understand what was happening. Before she could go any further the shadow quickly rose to its feet and stabbed her through her chest. She screamed out loud as did David who was now desperately battling against the invisible barrier trying to get at Fred who was falling to the floor.  
  
The shadow looked around at David and nodded slightly. He shouted something at it. It didn't seem to make any difference. The shadow just stood there looking at David. It seemed satisfied with what it had done. Just then David smiled. This seemed to unnerve the thing a bit and it twisted around just in time to see Fred standing up with the stone aimed at the jewel in the hilt of its sword.  
  
The creature seemed completely shocked, too shocked to move. Fred wasn't dead like she should have been. Fred too advantage of the shadow's surprise and slammed the stone hard into the jewel.  
  
It was an amazing sight. The shadow just looked down at the pieces of that shattered jewel and then looked back up at Fred who was smiling. David was now laying on the floor staring in utter amazement at what was happening in front of him. He knew Fred couldn't die but he hadn't expected her to be getting up so soon. But there she was, still holding the stone and smiling with pleasure at seeing the shadow's obvious fury. David couldn't resist the smile that came to him. Fred had finally got her revenge on the bad guys and she looked like she was enjoying it.  
  
Quickly the shadow began to fade, like it was being erased. Both Fred and David looked on him both horror and amazement. Soon there was nothing left in the hut except the pieces of stone and the fading shape of the shadow's head.  
  
For a moment after the shadow's disappearance neither David nor Fred could say anything. They just looked at the space where the shadow had disappeared in front of their eyes moments before. It was an incredible thing to see but at the same time both almost knew that it was what was meant to happen.  
  
David slowly stood up and let his knife fall to the ground. It was as if this triggered something and made everything come back to animation. Fred looked away from the empty space the thing had previously occupied and looked over at David who was looking at her with confusion all over his face.  
  
"Thank you." Was all he could say to her.  
  
"You're welcome." She replied equally surprised. "What on earth was that?" She finally managed to say.  
  
"I have no idea." David replied. "I.Wow." He walked around the space, never taking his eyes off it just in case the thing came back. Fred did the same and they met in the middle.  
  
"Are you alright?" Fred asked. "You looked like you were losing against that thing. Whatever it was." She smiled.  
  
"I'm fine. You looked like you were winning against that thing." He laughed.  
  
"Yeah. Juts don't ask me how. I don't understand any of this." She said looking at the floor.  
  
David followed her gaze and bent down to look at the floor where the shadow had been. "At least we know how to kill these things. Is this part of the Orb?" He asked picking up a few of the small pieces of red crystal that lay on the ground.  
  
"I think so. The power from that sword was pretty. you know. Do you think this is Saruman's doing. He has the Orb, maybe he got it working again." She suggested.  
  
"No, I don't think this is Saruman's style. He'd send an army of these things, not just one. Did you see his sword? It didn't look like anything I've seen from Middle Earth."  
  
"I saw it." Fred said looking down at the slice in her jacket and the small amount of blood.  
  
"Are you alright?" David asked standing up and taking her hand.  
  
"I think I'm alright. At least I can't die right?" She attempted to smile. "It hurts a bit though. I was lucky he.it didn't use too much force. It was like it wasn't trying to kill me." She looked up at him. "Does that make sense?"  
  
He nodded. "It's probably best you don't tell your friends about this. They can't know yet Fred." She nodded understandingly.  
  
"Bob knows more about the legend of the Orb than we do. Maybe she'll know whether there was another one made."  
  
David nodded and they walked towards the open door. Secretly Fred wasn't looking forward to confronting Bob, she didn't like lying to her friend especially about something this big. She wished David would just let her tell them so there wouldn't be the uncomfortable feeling she was expecting from them. She decided to just carry on as if everything was normal with them and say nothing to suggest something bad was happening to them. At least she could distract herself with the riddle of the shadow.  
  
Bob and Ned were waiting for them a few meters from the hut, they had wanted to help but knew they could do nothing. Bob ran forward when she saw Fred alive, not quite well but well enough. They met and Bob looked at them expectantly. When neither Fred or David said anything she asked,  
  
"Well. What happened? Are you alright?"  
  
"Fine, just a little battle weary." David smiled.  
  
"Fred?" Bob asked, instantly noticing the bloodstain on her jacket.  
  
"I'm fine. It's nothing, just a small cut." She smiled trying to make her act more believable even though she knew Bob would see right through the deception.  
  
"What was that thing and what happened to it? Did you kill it?"  
  
"I have no idea what it was. I know that it wasn't from Earth or Middle Earth. David says that it's nothing like the things he's seen before. It was carrying a sword with a stone in it that looked like that Orb we destroyed in Middle Earth. I thought maybe if I broke it it would be killed. Luckily it worked. It was like a shadow, it was there but it wasn't. When I broke the stone it just disappeared. Literally, disappeared into thin air. Nothing left but the remainders of the stone. I think it's from the Orb it looks the same and it is certainly powerful."  
  
Fred held out her hand so the others could see the fragments of the stone in the palm of her hand. Strangely they were already turning to the natural colour of crystal.  
  
"It looks the same as the Orb." Bob said picking some of it up and inspecting it closely.  
  
"Yeah and it had the same kind of power in it. It threw David across the room." Fred said also looking at the pieces in Bob's hand.  
  
"Maybe it's parts of the Orb itself. It's certainly made of the same stuff."  
  
"It can't be. David said the Orb is still in Isengard with Saruman so it must be something else."  
  
"Are you sure this isn't something to do with Saruman? He's certainly capable of doing something like this. He has the power." Bob asked looking at both David and Fred.  
  
"Whatever that thing was it wasn't from Middle Earth. Fred says that it isn't from your planet so I guess the big question is where it came from." David said looking around him checking that everything was normal around them.  
  
Ned was doing the same but also listening to what was being said, she didn't say anything because she didn't know enough about anything to do with Middle Earth so decided to keep quiet.  
  
"Are you sure it's not from Middle Earth?" She asked.  
  
"Positive. I have never seen anything like this before. It looked like a ghost, we don't have those in Middle Earth." David almost laughed.  
  
"Great so we're back to square one. We know nothing about this thing. It could be an invasion for all we know and there's nothing we can do."  
  
"We do know something about them." Fred said, the others looked over at her. "We know how to kill them."  
  
"Unfortunately it's quiet hard to do." David said. "They were strong, really strong. I don't know if we could fight off hundreds of them."  
  
"Right, so the first thing we have to do is make sure we don't bump into any more of them. I think we should leave. That thing came here so it knows where we are and if it knows others might know as well. We can't stay here just hoping they don't attack again." Ned said looking around at the woods.  
  
"Well, we can't go into the woods, it's too dangerous." David said.  
  
"I know but we can't stay here." Ned protested.  
  
"We should make up our minds fast. Whoever sent that thing will soon know it failed and send another one." Bob interrupted.  
  
"Right so we can't stay here or go into the woods. That's great." Fred said looking annoyingly over at the others.  
  
"We probably stand a better chance in the forest. We can hide there if we have to." David reasoned.  
  
"Right. We go into the forest then." Ned said trying to suppress the smug smile at being right.  
  
"Great, another night in the forest, my favourite place." Fred said as they walked back to the hut to collect their things.  
  
David couldn't help but smile. Fred seemed to be taking the bad news surprisingly well; he just hoped she wouldn't say anything to the others. It wasn't the right time. He knew that she didn't entirely trust him but he was certain that in time everything would work out.  
  
They went back into the hut and quickly put their things away. Everything was silent; no one wanted to mention what had just happened. Bob and Ned looked at each other occasionally, they knew something was wrong. They sensed it, especially Bob. No one could blame Fred for being nervous in the forest; they were too, after all the forest was where there other 'adventure' began. Still they were sure it was something else, Fred was afraid of something far more important than the trees. She had been keeping something back during their stay in the flat.  
  
Bob remembered that day in Isengard when she had arrived and defeated Saruman, Fred had been so frightened then. She had admitted that and Bob couldn't blame her for it. After everything she had been through it was only natural that she would be a little edgy but now there was something more. Bob wished she knew what it was but wanted Fred to tell her. She hated seeing her friend in pain and Bob knew there was something going on and it was only a matter of time before she found out what it was.  
  
For now though she kept quiet hoping that Fred would come to her eventually. Until then she was going to keep a close eye on Fred. Whatever she was hiding had to be more important than a simple fear of the woods.  
  
Finally they had finished packing their things away. Ned was looking eagerly at the door whilst Bob was inspecting the ground where Fred had said the creature was killed. Ned didn't know what she was looking for but knew she wouldn't find anything. She hated this hut, so many bad things had happened there already, this was just one more thing to add to the ever- growing list.  
  
Fred and David were also looking forward to getting out of the hut, simply because of what had happened earlier. The memory of that ghost or whatever it was was still frightening to them. They stood in a corner talking about what had happened and trying to make some kind of sense out of it but they came up with nothing. Nothing they knew was fitting to what they had seen.  
  
"Can we go now? The longer we stay here the more likely we are to be faced with one of those things again and I really don't want that." Ned said.  
  
"Me neither, lets get out of here." Fred added walking away from David.  
  
"I told you this place was bad. Okay Frank wasn't here but there was something worse. Maybe we should burn this place down, we don't want any more bad luck." Ned said looking at the hut from the outside as the others slowly came out.  
  
Bob was putting some of the stone into her pocket for some reason.  
  
"I hope one of those things doesn't chase us for that." Ned said looking harshly at Bob.  
  
"You're always so pessimistic Ned, I think we're safe for now." She smiled as they walked towards the woods.  
  
To Fred they looked unusually threatening. She didn't want to go in there. She was certain that there was something waiting for them in there, she just hoped that it was Gollum instead of a shadow. She unconsciously moved closer to David and took his hand. He looked over at her but said nothing and squeezed her hand for support before putting his arm around her shoulders. She was grateful for this but didn't have to say it. 


	10. camping and a meal

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created. I'll give them back when I'm done. I promise.  
  
Ch 10 Camping and a meal  
  
They had been walking almost all night, none of them had wanted to stop, their only thought was to get as far away from that hut as possible. They were all tired, even David who was now leading. Their pace had slowed since they had started. Now the sun was up and the forest looked a little less intimidating. The sunlight filtering through the trees gave the forest an almost magical feel. It felt less scary than it did last night. It would have been easy to forget that those things were still hunting them.  
  
Finally David stopped and looked around the clearing they had entered, it seemed to be a nice spot, there was a small lake running by it and good shelter from the trees on either side. They all sat down gratefully on the fallen tree that was resting at the clearing's edge.  
  
"I think we should stop here. We can rest for a while then start moving again." David suggested putting down the pack he had been carrying for Fred.  
  
"We should keep moving while it's light." Bob said, not liking the thought of being in an open space in the middle of the day.  
  
"You and me have had some sleep but Ned and Fred haven't had much. They need rest. I know that I would feel better after a few hours sleep. It was a hard night last night, we're all tired. Besides Fred was hurt, she needs to be treated." He looked at Fred who had her eyes closed.  
  
"I'm fine to keep going a little longer but David's right. We should get some rest. A lot happened last night. Ned could probably use some sleep." Ned nodded slightly and began looking around her.  
  
"That settles it then. We'll stay here for a while get some rest then move later on when we're all feeling more lively." He smiled noticing them all sigh with relief that they didn't have to walk any further.  
  
"Great, I'll go and get some firewood. It's still quite cold out here." Ned said standing up and walking a little way into the woods.  
  
"I'll go to the stream and fetch some water, we can fill up our flask." Fred said standing up and walking towards the stream.  
  
Before she could go David grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Oh no you don't. Bob can get the water. I want to look at your wound." David held her tightly when she tried to pull away.  
  
"There's no need I'm fine."  
  
"What wound? Were you hurt in the fight?" Bob asked looking at Fred anxiously.  
  
"It's nothing. Just a scratch. David's just exaggerating." She shot him a warning glance, which he then ignored.  
  
"It wasn't just a scratch, she was stabbed. Not too badly but it still needs to be taken care of. You go and fetch the water then when I've finished Fred can look at your wounds. I know she's good at that." He smiled at Fred who was staring angrily at him.  
  
"Right. I'll be quick." Bob said taking the flask with her and walking in the direction of the stream.  
  
Fred sat down on the fallen tree and rubbed her hands over her face. She hadn't realised how tired she was until then. The aches that had plagued her body when in hospital were coming back with a vengeance. Her head was also starting to pound and she reached up and touched the bandage that was covering the space where her left eye had once been. She shuddered when memories of what happened came flooding back to her.  
  
"Does that still give you trouble?" David asked watching her carefully.  
  
Fred looked up and smiled at him. "Sometimes. It's difficult when you're used to seeing with two." She smiled again trying to lighten the mood. "I never really got used to it. It hurts sometimes, like it's happening all over again. I don't understand if I'm.you know.dead then why does this still hurt?" She questioned as he sat down next to her and took things out of the green first aid kit she had brought with her.  
  
"Death can't take the pain away, not like this. It's there because it was there when you died." He reached towards her and removed her thick black coat.  
  
"Then it'll be like this forever?"  
  
"No, it'll fade eventually, just like your friend's wounds will. She still feels the pain but it doesn't kill her simply because."  
  
"You can't kill the dead." Fred finished his sentence for him. "How did Bob die? She wasn't that badly hurt."  
  
"I can't answer that. I only know what you are not how you died. You were there, you would know more than me. Maybe it was something to do with the Orb, I don't know. She died at the same time as you?" Fred nodded. "Then maybe something happened when I broke that thing that killed her too. Maybe she was hurt more than you know."  
  
"It just doesn't seem possible. Can I walk through walls and do cool ghost things?" She smiled.  
  
"Cool?" He questioned. "You know sometimes I have no idea what you're talking about." He laughed.  
  
"That's not my problem. Maybe you should learn." She smiled back at him.  
  
"Maybe you can teach me. We can start with cool." He leaned forward and was about to kiss her when Ned dumped a bundle of sticks at their feet.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt." She smiled. Fred glared at her for a moment before smiling. David also looked annoyed.  
  
"Have you got enough firewood there? We're only staying here for a few hours." Fred laughed.  
  
"I've been thinking maybe it is safer to travel during the day. Those things might only come out at night. I say we rest here until tomorrow. It makes sense. We can't travel any more today and we're probably safer at night." David said as Bob approached with a flask full of water.  
  
"I think you're right. We should stay here tonight." Ned agreed. "We can make a fire and some kind of camp. Lets just hope there aren't any wild ponies about right Fred?" She laughed. Bob tried to suppress a giggle.  
  
"What does she mean Fred?" David asked watching Bob and Ned laughing whilst Fred was looking angrily at them.  
  
"Nothing. Just ignore them." She turned away. "Shouldn't you be setting up camp?" She said to Ned who made a face behind her back.  
  
"I'm going." Ned said finally stopping her laughter. Before she left she whispered to David, "I'll tell you later."  
  
Bob also went with Ned to start the fire and boil some water. Maybe they could cook some of the food they had taken with them.  
  
David turned his attention back to Fred who was staring at the ground and had one hand pressed up against her left eye. He looked at her for a moment. She had changed so much since Orthanc it was difficult to recognise her. He remembered those nights when he held her in his arms when she was scared or after she had been tortured and she did the same for him. He never thought he'd see her again and there she was. Just a little different and dead. In a way he was pleased because they could be together but when he thought about how much she'd lost it made him wish she was alive.  
  
She had fought so hard to stay alive in Orthanc and as soon as she got home she was killed. It didn't seem fair. And yet she seemed to be taking it all really well. Of course she was frightened and confused but then so had he been at first. She was still the strong person he had known in Orthanc, she had proven that last night. Still there was a weakness about her that made him love her even more. She needed him and he liked that. The strange thing was he needed her too and he didn't mind admitting it. In fact he loved it.  
  
"Fred, are you alright?" He asked gently as he touched her back.  
  
"I'm fine. Just tired that's all. So much has changed." She sighed and turned to face him. "I thought I'd lost you. Now I have you but I've lost everything else. It doesn't seem fair."  
  
"I know. I lost things too. But I've gained the most precious treasure in the world, you." He smiled and looked at her as she smiled back.  
  
"I love you." She whispered.  
  
"I love you too but then you know that. I told you in Isengard and I meant it then just as I mean it now. I don't ever want to leave you again." He leaned closer and kissed her gently. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.  
  
They could both hear the laughter that came from Bob and Ned but ignored it. David drew away and hugged her for a moment before letting go.  
  
"I'll look at that wound." He said as he reached for the first aid box again. She nodded and shot a warning glance at Bob and Ned who were pretending not to notice what had happened. They merely smiled at them and continued lighting the fire.  
  
**  
  
What none of them noticed were the set of bright eyes that watched them from the trees. The same eyes that had been watching them ever since they left the hut. The bright eyes of Gollum.  
  
**  
  
"I think Fred's happier now she's with David again, she'd been sad ever since he died. Doesn't that seem unusual to you?" Bob asked looking over at Fred and David who were now kissing.  
  
"What?" Ned asked following her gaze.  
  
"That he came back to life. You should have seen it. He went up in flames. Nothing could have survived that. I'm surprised we did. It just doesn't seem right that's all. I think Fred thinks the same thing as well. She's just so glad he's here that she's ignoring how he survived."  
  
"Well, he's not a ghost so he must be real. I think this is just your imagination working overtime. So he survived and Saruman sent him here, who cares as long as he's alive?"  
  
"Why do you think Saruman sent him here? Why didn't he just kill him? Saruman certainly wasn't big on mercy. He would have killed him straight away."  
  
"Maybe he had a change of heart after what you did to him. Or maybe he just couldn't be bothered to kill him. Too much trouble. He seems like the fighting type."  
  
"Wouldn't it be more trouble to send him back here than to simply kill him? I mean David said that Saruman couldn't fix the Orb so how did he get sent back here?"  
  
"Maybe Saruman had more power and sent him back with that."  
  
"Than why not come himself and take over the Earth?"  
  
"He wanted the Ring and the Ring is in Middle Earth. He didn't need to come here."  
  
"But."  
  
"Bob, he's alive, that's what's important, maybe you should just stop asking questions and be happy for Fred. Don't you think she deserves that?"  
  
"Yes but."  
  
"Bob." Ned warned. Bob nodded and went to work on the fire again.  
  
"I'm just worried that's all."  
  
"I know but this is up to Fred. I think she knows when she should back away and we should trust her judgement. She knows him better than anyone. She'll work it out, just try not to pound him with questions."  
  
Bob smiled and looked over at Fred and David who were talking quietly. "I'll try." She said and started trying to light the fire.  
  
It took some time before the fire was lit and was big enough to boil some water. They were slightly anxious about it and hoped that it wouldn't attract anyone they didn't want. David had reasoned that if the shadows had wanted to find them they probably wouldn't need a fire to do it. They had agreed although slightly reluctantly and had continued to pile wood on top whilst Bob was boiling the water she had collected from the lake.  
  
"I'm going hunting." David announced after spending a short amount of time in the woods. He had appeared with several sticks that he had crafted pointed tips onto. "I managed to make some weapons. Hopefully I can find something to eat." He smiled.  
  
"Wait, you're going to kill some innocent animal in the forest just so you can have meat?" Bob said paling slightly at the thought.  
  
"Yes. Do not worry. I will prepare it then bring it back for you to cook if it troubles you seeing the animal dead." He smiled at her but only received a cold glare.  
  
"Fine, just don't expect me to eat it." Bob said crossing her arms and staring at the fire.  
  
"As you wish." He bowed slightly.  
  
"Do you mind if I come with you? I'd really like to learn." Ned asked standing up.  
  
"Of course not. Although it is unusual for a lady to hunt in Middle Earth but if you wish to learn I cannot deny you. I'm sure Fred would not have it so." He smiled at Fred who returned the gesture. "Do you wish to join us Fred?" He asked.  
  
"No thank you. I really don't think I could eat anything after watching you kill it."  
  
"Very well. Be on your guard. We won't be long."  
  
"Just be careful. I want you back alive." Fred looked at him seriously.  
  
"You know me Fred. I'm always careful."  
  
"Yeah right."  
  
"As I recall you were the one that tried to escape and ended up getting us captured and into trouble once more with Saruman." Fred stare stopped him before he could finish.  
  
"Just go." She smiled.  
  
"I won't be long." He promised.  
  
As he walked off Fred called out to him, "Maybe you should pick some fruit or berries or something for Bob."  
  
He waved her okay and him and Ned disappeared into the woods.  
  
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Bob asked.  
  
"David can take care of himself, you know that. He is probably safer then Ned anyway." She smiled. "Don't worry. They'll come back."  
  
Bob nodded trying to keep all the questions she had to herself.  
  
"What's wrong?" Fred asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Bob tried to sound innocent as if she didn't know what Fred was talking about.  
  
"I know that look. You're either worried about something or you want to ask me something, so what is it?"  
  
"It's nothing important really." Bob said turning back to the fire.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Fine if you really want to know, I'm worried about you. You and David to be more precise. Something is going on that you're not telling me about and it's making me uncomfortable." Bob blurted out.  
  
"Okay. He's fine. Nothing's going on with him." Fred said cheerfully hoping that she too would sound convincing.  
  
"That's not what I meant. He seems different since he came here, like there's something wrong. I think he knows more than he's letting on about this whole thing. Maybe it is just my imagination but I'm only looking out for you and I'm telling you there is something wrong."  
  
"Bob, he's been tortured in a prison for four weeks alone, that's enough to change anyone, believe me I know. I appreciate you looking out for me but there's no need. David's fine and so am I."  
  
That's another thing that's wrong. He's fine. You say he's been tortured but he looks fine, like nothing's happened. How is that possible after it nearly killed you?"  
  
Fred could have laughed at that but she knew it would tell Bob that something was very wrong and she had promised David that she wouldn't do that.  
  
"You want to know the truth? David was tortured but Saruman doesn't take it too far otherwise you wouldn't be able to talk. He pushed David to his limit and not beyond. When that happens to you you make sure you do everything you can to keep from remembering it. It's painful when you speak about it and that added with the fact that David's a very proud man means that he doesn't speak about it much. He is in pain and just because he doesn't show it doesn't mean he's lying, alright?" Fred couldn't stop raising her voice when she said this.  
  
"I'm sorry Fred, I didn't mean to upset or offend you but I was just worried. How did David say he got back here?"  
  
"Bob, please just forget about it okay. He's here and that's all that matters. He hasn't told me how he got here. Just leave him alone, please."  
  
"Alright." Bob said looking into the woods. "Do you think we're really safe here alone? It'll be getting dark soon."  
  
"David and Ned will be back before dark. He told me he's a very good hunter." She smiled. "Bob, I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout I am just so pleased he's back and right now that's all that matters to me."  
  
"I know." Bob said. "I am pleased for you. Call me over-cautious." She smiled.  
  
"Thank you but there's really no need, not where David is concerned. If I were you I'd be far more worried about those things hunting us rather than David."  
  
"You're right. Is that them?" Bob pointed to David and Ned who were coming out from the main forest.  
  
David was carrying something over his shoulder and Bob had to look away when she realised it was a dead pig. Luckily the skin had already been stripped and most of the blood drained away, just like David had promised but still Bob couldn't look at it, the very thought of the dead animal made her feel sick. David had also brought back some kind of fruit that Ned was carrying proudly along with the spears they had taken, one dripping with the pig's blood.  
  
"I told you we wouldn't be long." David smiled. "Bob we brought you some fruit and berries but there's enough meat here if you want some." He placed the dead animal down at Bob's feet.  
  
Bob just stared at the carcass of the animal before standing up and walking away to sit on the fallen tree on the other side of the clearing.  
  
"I'd take that as a no." Fred said as David sat down next to her and started carving at the creature with his knife. "Nice kill." She said looking him in the eye.  
  
"Is something wrong?" David asked suddenly concerned by Fred's serious look. "Are you hurt, in pain?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. I'll talk to you later." She nodded towards Ned who was peeling the fruit.  
  
"You want me to get some more firewood Fred?" Ned asked giving them the option to talk alone.  
  
"No, it's fine. I think we have enough. I'll talk to you later." She whispered to David. He nodded but the concerned look didn't leave his face as he continued to carve the pig up. He passed the pieces onto Fred who put them on a stick and leaned them into the fire to cook them.  
  
Soon the fire was roaring and the pig David had caught was almost ready. There was almost a happy feeling about the small camp, like all of them were on holiday rather than hiding from monsters that relied on an enchanted crystal to survive. It was hardly surprising that soon they were all talking merrily about their past adventures. Ned was telling David of the April Fools prank she had played on Fred and Bob and how they had fallen for it. David, despite getting annoyed looks from Fred and Bob, laughed at everything that was said. After though he put a comforting arm around Fred who leaned against him.  
  
As much as she wanted, and pretended to join in with the conversation she couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't alone in the forest. There was something out there and she could feel that it wasn't anything good. She said nothing to the others who seemingly noticed nothing.  
  
"Fred, I think we're safe here for now. It's only just after dark, if anything was going to attack us it would be in the middle of the night. Besides we know how to kill them and we're perfectly prepared so just relax for a few hours, you deserve it." David said quietly to her as the other two were arguing about something. He had noticed her looking into the forest every few seconds and had also sensed her tension.  
  
She nodded and turned her attention back to Bob and Ned who were now stood shouting loudly at each other about something. Fred smiled, liking the fact that for a moment everything seemed normal, she only wished that it would last even though she knew that it couldn't.  
  
David was now pulling the meat off the fire and carving it into smaller pieces. Bob and Ned had finished their argument, each of them claiming they had won the debate. David handed out the meat to each of them, except Bob who had insisted that she was fine with the supplies they had brought with them and the few fruits David had found in the forest during his hunting trip.  
  
They all ate happily, still talking about numerous things including David's past even though he gave little away, he briefly mentioned being brought up in a city, which he didn't name. But he mentioned nothing about his family and who they were. None of them asked any questions, sensing that it was a topic he didn't like talking about. Fred had found the same thing in Isengard, he had said that after he was captured no one came looking for him so he assumed they didn't care about him apart from that he had said nothing about his past or his family.  
  
Everything seemed so perfect at that moment, eating dinner with David, Bob and Ned talking about things that sometimes made little sense to Fred who's mind was too far away to understand what they were saying.  
  
That perfection, however, would now last forever. Secretly they were all thinking the same thing although none liked to admit it. 


	11. dangers in the night

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created.  
  
Ch 11 Dangers in the night  
  
Finally they were all ready to go to sleep. It had been several hours since they had finished their meal and the forest was starting to look more threatening yet now because they had been up for so long talking about the past they were almost too tired to stay awake and keep look out. Even so David insisted that he would stay up and make sure nothing happened.  
  
"Someone has to make sure we're safe tonight. Those things could still be hunting us. I think the last thing we want is to be attacked in the middle of the night when everyone's asleep." He said.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay up. I don't mind. I probably won't be able to sleep out here anyway. Not after what happened last time anyway."  
  
"No, you should rest. You were hurt."  
  
"Don't worry Fred, I'm sure David will let you know if there are any killer ponies nearby." Ned laughed lying down next to the fire.  
  
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Fred retorted also laying down only a little further away from the fire but also trying to stay as close as possible to David. She wanted to feel safe and he made her feel like that. Plus she was close to the knives should anything happen.  
  
"Good night." David smiled at them as they crawled under their blankets.  
  
No one answered him although Fred smiled at him.  
  
David got his own blanket and wrapped it around him in an attempt to keep out the cold, which suddenly seemed to take over the forest despite the fire, which was still burning brightly. He prodded it with a stick whilst looking into the bright flames. He smiled. It was almost too nice to be with Fred and her friends in the forest. He hadn't met Ned before the night before but he had heard lots about her when he was with Fred in Orthanc. Most of it was true but he didn't remember her saying that she was quite so odd.  
  
Bob was almost instantly asleep although she made sure she listened out for any unusual sounds in the forest just in case something was out there and they needed to fight or better run. Soon though she found that she couldn't stay awake any more and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
Ned was also listening to the sounds of the forest trying to make out what was out there, unfortunately she found that she couldn't hear as well as she used to be able to, something she had noticed shortly after Bob and Fred had rescued her from the coffin. She didn't know why though but she thought that maybe Fred might. She made a mental note to ask her in the morning.  
  
Her thoughts soon drifted back to Gollum, what if he wasn't in the forest after all? All this was for nothing. She knew how against it Fred was even if they wouldn't have found David if they hadn't had come. Bob was so certain that she could sense Gollum still here but there was something else out there, something unfriendly and something that wanted to kill them, as usual. It didn't make sense. Why were those things going after innocent people in the forest? They obviously weren't human. And they didn't come from Middle Earth so where? Another planet? Ned laughed at herself and shut out all those thoughts and closed her eyes and fell asleep.  
  
Fred fell straight asleep. The feeling of David so close by calmed and reassured her. She felt safe and was soon in that land of dreams, although she soon realised that she didn't want to be. That same nightmare came back to her again. Like it was trying to tell her something that she should know. Something she should understand and yet she didn't no matter how much she tried. It was the same thing, almost like a run down of what had already happened.  
  
**  
  
She was in the room in Orthanc then the hand, then the creature in the hall she had pulled back the creatures hood but before she could see what it was it seemed to fade away. Like a mirage or an illusion. She was quite glad that she didn't have to look at that thing and see what was underneath its hood although she was even more curious now.  
  
Still she stood up straight and looked down the corridor both ways hoping to see something that would allow her to get out of there. It was so cold. Like it was the middle of winter and it was raining and yet there was no water. It was a strange feeling and she didn't like it. She wanted to be away from that place, away from Orthanc, away from those creatures. There was nothing though, nothing but darkness, that deep darkness that you couldn't get away from.  
  
Suddenly though there was a pin point of light at the end of the corridor. A white light, like a tiny lamp. She went instinctively towards it hoping it would allow an escape, anything to get her out of there. For some time she walked towards it and yet she didn't get any closer. Eventually she did. She reached the light and reached out in front of her trying to see what it was and where it was coming from. Her hand touched something solid. She pulled back, not expecting to feel it. She built up the courage and touched it again. She realised it was a door.  
  
She couldn't believe it, this could be the way out. She smiled and quickly searched for a handle hoping that there was something good on the other side of the door. The light in the corridor seemed to increase, like it knew that she was looking at something and was helping her. She saw the handle and twisted it. Nothing happened. She almost cried out when she realised it was locked. Of course it would never be that easy. She searched around her in the vain hope of finding a key. No luck.  
  
She looked around and as she was doing so she heard a sound. She stopped what she was doing and listened again. Nothing. Maybe it was her imagination, or another weird twist in the dream. Just as she was about to start looking again she heard the sound but this time she recognised it as someone calling for help. A desperate shouting, begging for help. She pressed her ear against the door hoping to hear better but the sound was too muffled, the only thing she could understand was one word.  
  
"Fred." Someone was calling her name but she didn't know who it was. She couldn't hear the voice. It was in pain and it wanted her help. But she couldn't get through the door so how could she help? The desperation grew in the voice and it also grew in her.  
  
She banged against the door and this time the voice grew louder, she recognised it. David. She shouted his name hoping he would tell her what to do. She banged against the door but nothing happened. She wanted to get in and help him but there was nothing she could do. She grabbed at the handle and started twisting it thinking maybe the door was just stuck. After a few seconds of holding it it became white-hot and burnt her hand forcing her to pull away with a cry of pain.  
  
The screaming inside continued and now Fred recognised other voices. Bob and Ned were there too, begging her to help them, their anguished cries filling the corridor and forcing Fred to cover her ears and sink to the floor. She wanted them to stop, something to help them or make them go away. She cried out herself.  
  
"No!"  
  
**  
  
Fred sat up looking about her. She was cold, but not just because of the winter weather but because of the lingering memory of the dream. Every time she was getting closer and yet she couldn't quite get there before something woke her. She knew that it was just a dream, a nightmare, and these certainly weren't new to her and yet they felt so real, like she should be taking notice of them. She should be listening to them. Maybe the events of Orthanc really had made her a little crazy.  
  
"Fred, are you alright?" David asked reaching over to her and touching her arm.  
  
"I'm fine. Just a bad dream that's all."  
  
"The second one in two nights. Are you sure you're fine?" He asked concerned. He pulled her closer and she leaned against his warm body.  
  
"You know what dreams are like. They scare you but they're not real. They just seem real. You can't tell me you've never had a bad dream after everything that happened."  
  
"Of course I have. Who wouldn't?" He smiled. "My nightmare is always the same. I see you getting hurt and it hurts me even more."  
  
"I'm fine. I'm not hurt. See right here." She smiled.  
  
"What do you dream about? I believe it is good to talk about such things. Didn't you once tell me that?"  
  
"Yes. It is good but only when the person wants to. I don't remember a whole lot. I just remember being frightened of something. It's just a dream nothing more."  
  
"When your friend dreams you speak of them as premonitions."  
  
"Yeah but that's Bob. She's different."  
  
"I'm sure she'd love to hear you say that. Perhaps I should wake her." Fred hit him playfully on the arm.  
  
"Don't you dare. She'd kill me." She laughed.  
  
They sat for a moment looking into the fire, each enjoying the other's company. Fred felt safe with David, more so than she did with any other person. And David felt comfortable with Fred, after what they shared nothing seemed wrong to tell her and she always seemed willing to listen.  
  
"We have to talk. You wanted to say something to me earlier. I got the impression it was important. You wanted to wait until we were alone and here we are alone so what did you want to say?"  
  
"It's not important." Fred dismissed him.  
  
"That's a lie. I know you. Now what was it?" 


	12. destructive force

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created no matter how much I want to.  
  
Thanks to my only reviewer Katy. If there are any others out there reading this please just let me know. There are only 2 chapters left after this and I want to know whether to keep writing or not.  
  
Ch 12 Destructive Force  
  
Frodo and Sam waited at the Black Gates to get into Mordor. It seemed as though they had been going a lifetime to get there, and it hadn't helped that they had no guide. For a few moments they had thought they had seen something following them, stalking them but it always turned out to be nothing more than a shadow. They had seen no trace of Gollum since they had left that other world. Although Bob and Ned hadn't said exactly what was going to happen they had implied that Gollum had an important part to play in the future, as had Gandalf before they left him at Amun Hen.  
  
If only they had told them more, it would have saved a lot of trouble. They probably even knew a direct route to Mordor. That would have been useful but they had said nothing, Ned had told them some things, occasional cryptic hints about what they would encounter and what would happen to them but nothing concrete.  
  
Now they were looking at the huge gates wondering what to do next. Just then the gates opened as a group of almost three hundred Eastorlings marched up. Frodo knew this was his only chance; he prepared to go through the gates hoping they could get into Mordor that way.  
  
"I do not ask you to come." He said to Sam, keeping a watchful eye on the gate.  
  
"I know." Sam replied in a frightened yet determined voice.  
  
They ran down the hill towards the gate but something suddenly stopped them, a feeling that something was following them. Frodo stopped dead in his tracks as did Sam, it was calling for them not to go. Frodo's mind rationalised that it was a trick of Saruman or some other evil force but he couldn't bring himself to move from that spot.  
  
Then as if from thin air a figure approached, they didn't know what it was and secretly Sam was too terrified to even think about it. It was like a giant black shadow, menacing even though there was no way it could have been real.  
  
It stopped when it reached them, as if waiting for them to do something but it suddenly started to speak. As much as they wanted to they couldn't run from it, its stare, which was invisible to them, froze them to the spot where they were standing.  
  
"I know who you are. Hobbits." It said in an icy voice. "I know what you have done." Frodo and Sam didn't understand this but they weren't going to argue with or question it. "You cannot hide anything from me young Hobbits, I know your darkest fears and nightmares, I can make them all come true young Frodo Baggins." It said emotionlessly.  
  
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Frodo said summoning up as much courage as possible.  
  
The thing laughed but it wasn't musical like the Elves or merry like the Hobbits but cold and heartless.  
  
"I know everything about you Frodo Baggins. And your little friend here." It said as coldly as before.  
  
"How..." Frodo began but the creature cut him off.  
  
"Do not ask questions. You are only wasting time." It shouted.  
  
"What..." Frodo began but quickly remembered the warning. He stood still next to Sam who was reaching for his sword slowly.  
  
"That would not be wise Master Gamgee. There is nothing on Middle Earth that can stop me."  
  
"If this is about the Ring, there's nothing you can do or say that will make us change our minds, we're taking it to be destroyed." Sam said defiantly, unconsciously removing his hand from his sword.  
  
"Foolish Hobbit. I am not looking for the Ring of Power although that does intrigue me. There is something far greater that I am looking for. Far more important than a Ring."  
  
"More important than the Ring?" Frodo said surprised, this was the first evil creature they had met that didn't want to take the Ring for itself. In fact, it didn't seem to be at all affected by it. It didn't care.  
  
"I am afraid that I cannot let you enter Mordor. Not whilst you have something of mine." The creature snarled. "But the Ring of Power would be a nice gift for my Master. It laughed that terrifying laugh again and it sent a chill down Frodo and Sam's spines.  
  
**  
  
Bob, Fred, Ned and David walked into the camp, Fred pulling Gollum along on the rope behind her. Although he still snarled and whined every now and then he was quieter than when she had first caught him. David stopped in his tracks when he had seen the destruction at the camp. Everything was destroyed, all their camping things were scattered across the clearing. The fire had been stamped on so putting it out. There was very little grass left, even that log that they used as a 'thinking seat' had been smashed to little pieces.  
  
There was nothing left. David put his hand up to stop the others who wanted to get over there and do something, recover their belongings. Bob was trying to push past him and Ned was saying something about keeping a watchful eye on the camp from now on but Fred was just staring at the scene in front of her. Even when the camp was attacked last time it hadn't been that bad but now there was nothing left, no signs of life.  
  
In fact the only indication that animals used to live there were the few dead animals lying on the floor. It was as if all the birds had just fallen dead from the trees at the sight of whatever did this. Bob was looking down at the small animal graveyard, she was trying to understand what she was seeing but she couldn't believe it. Then she saw something that made her run forward to where the animals lay dead.  
  
David wasn't quick enough to catch her before she ran into the clearing. She raced over to where a dead squirrel lay. She knelt down beside it and stared at it as though she had never seen anything like it before.  
  
Fred and David stood still whilst Ned ran towards Bob with the intention of bringing her back to the safety of the forest. When she reached her friend she stopped to see what she was crying at, on the floor was a dead grey squirrel.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ned said nervously looking around her.  
  
"It's Percy." She said picking up the tiny creature.  
  
Ned looked down at the squirrel. "How do you know, they all look the same." She said a little coldly.  
  
"I just know. I would never forget Percy." Bob said sharply. "It killed him." She said, suddenly angry.  
  
"What killed him? We don't even know who did this." Ned insisted.  
  
"Come on I think it's pretty obvious what did this. It was one of those shadow things. They killed Percy."  
  
"Yeah and they're going to kill us in a minute it we don't hurry up and get out of here." Ned said grabbing Bob's arm and pulling her away from the squirrel she had now placed on the floor.  
  
"No." Bob shouted standing up and pushing Ned away from her. "You don't even care."  
  
"Bob, it's just a squirrel." Ned said trying to grab her arm again.  
  
At this Bob froze, Percy had been her friend, they had first met in Frank's hut and they had become instant friends. Now Ned was saying he was just another animal for those things to kill.  
  
"How can you say that?" She whispered angrily.  
  
"Bob I'm sorry but right now our lives are far more important than a squirrel who you names and called a friend. Now lets get out of here before we end up slaughtered like these animals. Bob please come on. There's nothing we can do now." Ned's voice had a hint of desperation in it, which made Bob listen to her; she started to walk back to the forest.  
  
At the sight of them coming back towards them David sighed. He looked over at Fred who, so far had not taken her eyes off the clearing. He placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Fred are you alright?" He asked.  
  
Nothing happened, she didn't even move.  
  
"Fred." He said shaking her shoulder slightly. This did wake her; she looked up suddenly at David and smiled.  
  
"I'm fine." She said a little too quickly.  
  
"Fred what's wrong, you look pale." He asked worry creasing his face. "Are you well?"  
  
"I told you I'm fine." She insisted brushing his hand away when he reached up to check her temperature.  
  
"You don't..." He was cut off by Ned and Bob returning, Bob more reluctantly than Ned.  
  
When they reached them Bob sat down. Fred knew there was something wrong and knelt next to her friend.  
  
"Bob, what happened, what was out there?"  
  
"Percy." She said looking into the clearing.  
  
Fred had heard about Percy but she didn't know a whole lot, just that he was a squirrel and yet another animal that Bob had insisted on naming. He had something to do with Frank but she couldn't remember everything.  
  
"Oh." Was all she said, not really understanding what was so upsetting about one dead squirrel when there were hundreds of other dead animals lying in the clearing.  
  
"We should leave before those shadows come back." David said looking down at Fred and Bob who both looked up at him when he spoke. "It could be dangerous to just stay here and wait for them."  
  
"But they've already searched this place, they're not likely to come back are they?" Bob reasoned even though there was anger in her voice.  
  
"They might have the same idea and know we'll fool them by doing that. I agree with David, we should get as far away from here as possible. At least we have the protection of the forest, we can always hide." Ned said.  
  
"Okay but we should collect some of our things first, we can't go into the forest with absolutely nothing." Fred looked over to the clearing, watching as if something was going to happen.  
  
Just then Bob shouted loudly, something the others didn't understand. She fell to the floor, gripping at the first thing she could find, David's arm. She held tightly whilst the images flew past her, it was amazing, she had had visions before but never anything like this, it was all so real. Fred was shouting at her trying to make some sense of what she was saying.  
  
One word froze Fred's heart, something she never wanted to hear again.  
  
"Dead!!" Although it had little significance to the others Fred knew exactly what it meant. Luckily the ramblings continued and no one paid much attention to what she was saying, partly because they didn't understand much of it, a word here and there but nothing that really made sense to them.  
  
Finally Bob sat up rubbing her head and mumbling something about it being unfair that she was always the one to suffer.  
  
"Bob what did you see?" Fred asked, helping her friend to stand.  
  
"Do you think you could remove your friend from me?" David asked cheerfully, pointing to Bob's hand, which was still wrapped firmly around his arm.  
  
"Sorry." Bob said a little uncomfortably. David smiled as she removed her hand and let him loose.  
  
"Bob..."  
  
"I saw Middle Earth but it was different, something was wrong there. It was dark and cold, not like the place we know. Something was wrong, I could feel it. It was like a cloud was covering it and making it a bad place. I can't describe it but there was no happiness there. No grass, no trees, no people. It was completely deserted. Then I saw us, dead in the forest. Me and Fred, I'm not sure about Ned she wasn't there."  
  
Fred looked over at David and knew that he was thinking the same thing.  
  
"After that everything went black as a thing raced towards me and nearly hit me, then I was back here."  
  
"Odd." Ned said looking around as if the answer would just appear from the trees.  
  
"Odd? That's all you're going to say? That it was a little odd. I know one thing it scared me and I'll bet it had something to do with those shadows." Bob was sitting down again but David reached down and pulled her back up.  
  
"We have to get out of this place. If what you saw is going to come true I want to go out with a fight, or not at all."  
  
"I like the last one better." Bob said as they quickly moved forwards towards the old camp, they all agreed that they would be much better off with their camping things, at least they would have food.  
  
After picking up their things they made ready to go into the forest. Before David could move away Fred grabbed him and held him back whilst the others walked on into the forest, Ned still holding tightly to the rope, which held Gollum.  
  
"You're not going to tell them?" Fred whispered.  
  
"Tell them what?"  
  
"You know what. Bob saw it; it's only a matter of time before she figures it out. The dead figures in the wood. David please."  
  
"No Fred. You know we can't."  
  
"But..."  
  
"No. It's too dangerous. I need them, like I need you, to be strong but they can't be strong when they're wondering what's happening to them." David insisted keeping his voice low so he didn't alert Bob and Ned who were waiting for them at the edge of the forest.  
  
"David. I can't keep lying to them. Bob is beginning to see it. It's only a matter of time, what if she figures it out?"  
  
"Then we'll deal with it. Fred you promised me, you told me you'd keep it secret. If Bob figures it out she won't believe it anyway, we'll just put it down to the fact that these visions she's getting are confusing."  
  
"She's not going to believe that David, not forever."  
  
"Fred please, we've talked about this before, please don't make it harder for me, or your friends."  
  
"No. I won't lie to them any more. David they have to know." Fred pleaded walking towards Bob and Ned who were watching curiously wishing they could hear the conversation between the two.  
  
"If you tell them they'll die. I promise you that." David had to restrain himself from shouting. Fred turned sharply around and faced him.  
  
"Don't say that. I'll never let that happen." She whispered fiercely.  
  
"Fred, you trust me right? I've never let you down before have I? All that time in Orthanc you trusted me, trust me now. Just wait a little longer, it's for their own good."  
  
"Then, when all this is over, we can tell them right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Okay." "Fred, I love you, don't ever forget that." David said pulling her close.  
  
"As if I ever could." She smiled back at him.  
  
With that they walked back into the forest, Bob and Ned walking behind as David and Fred walked hand in hand in front of them. Gollum was still tied up being dragged along by Ned who was quite enjoying being in charge of the creature.  
  
They wandered through the woods looking for somewhere to shelter for a while, it was almost light by now and last night's adventures were beginning to take their toll on the group, especially David who was holding his arm tightly trying to take the pain away although it wasn't working well. Fred had noticed a while ago and had passed him the occasional worried glance, which he tried to ignore, not succeeding well most of the time.  
  
"Are you alright? That arm must hurt." She asked him gently as they sat on a fallen log intending to rest for a while.  
  
"It's fine, just a little sore that's all." David reassured her taking some food out of the pack he was carrying. He looked back to Fred who had that determined look on her face. "Honestly it's fine, besides there's nothing you can do about it. Not here anyway."  
  
"Ah, but you forget, I'm a nurse in training."  
  
"In training? That's no good, I want a fully qualified nurse." He laughed pulling her closer and kissing her lightly. "We had better get going soon. We can't stop for long." He said when they had pulled away.  
  
"Why? It's daylight, those things probably aren't going to come after us in the light." Bob said taking a drink from her bag and looking at its contents.  
  
"No but we should try and put as much distance between us and them whilst we have the chance. The more we travel in the day the more chance we have of getting out of here alive." David reasoned.  
  
Bob nodded although a little reluctantly. She would have been quite happy to curl up on her blanket and go to sleep whether something was hunting them or not. However, she knew he was right, they were still in danger and that couldn't be ignored. Besides she liked the thought of putting distance between herself and those things, they had freaked her out enough the first time and she wasn't looking forward to the next confrontation.  
  
After almost half an hour they packed their things away making sure they left nothing behind that might give away their presence. The last thing they wanted to do was leave clues for the monsters hunting them, they may as well leave arrows for them to follow.  
  
David led the way back into the thick forest. Ned had left Bob to pull the unwilling Gollum along, who by now was making shouting noises of protest at being dragged across the ground no matter how many people shouted at him to keep quiet. More than one David had shouted at Bob to keep him quiet although he knew there was nothing she could do to stop him.  
  
They slowly went on, David in the lead; followed by Ned who was going into a lot of detail about previous expeditions she had been on involving the forest. David just walked quickly through the trees trying his best to ignore her and focus on what he was doing. He almost wished it was just him and Fred there, at least things would be quieter. He kept silent though, drowning out her words by thinking about what the shadows would do next.  
  
It was almost twelve o'clock when David finally stopped after many protests from the others, except Ned who was quite willing to go on talking and walking all day. He stopped and moved towards a small rock, he found the others followed him without question, not wanting to get lost. This part of the forest was particularly dark and close and they didn't want to get separated. Despite the coldness of the place David could feel the heat of this particular part. It reminded him of the forests back home, the dark ones no one ever ventured into, now he understood why, although he guessed there weren't giant spiders living in this part of the forest.  
  
Fred seemed to sense him unease.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked looking around her. She turned to Bob. "Do you sense anything?"  
  
Bob also looked around. "No, not any danger anyway. There is something though, a fear maybe. I don't know. I think we're safe now. These trees will protect us." Bob said again looking around her.  
  
"Oh my God." Fred exclaimed suddenly.  
  
"What?" Bob asked looking around her for danger or trouble.  
  
"Do you have any idea how much you sounded like Legolas just then?" Fred laughed. Bob, and the others breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Don't do that, you frightened me for a moment there. I thought there was something wrong."  
  
Fred laughed again although none of the others found it funny so she kept quiet whilst they sat on the leaf-covered floor. She stood still for a moment looking around her. This place seemed so familiar. She's never been there before, of that she was sure but still something made her think she knew it.  
  
"Do you hear that?" David suddenly asked.  
  
"What?" They all asked together.  
  
"Water. I think there must be a stream near by." He went to go but Fred grabbed his arm and stopped him. "I'll be fine." He said.  
  
"I'll go." Fred said firmly making sure he couldn't argue. "Don't worry. I promise I won't lose my way." She shot a look over at Ned who was laughing at the memory of Fred being frightened of a horse.  
  
"Be careful." David called after her but she had already gone taking with her two bottles to fill up.  
  
The others went about getting lunch and enjoying their much-needed break. David began bandaging his aching arm. Bob was tying Gollum's rope to a tree making sure he couldn't escape.  
  
Fred walked towards the sound of the stream, making sure she made a mental note of where she was, she had been serious when she said she wasn't going to get lost again, she didn't want to spend the night in the forest, it was creepy enough during the day. She made sure she made marks that wouldn't be hard to find, David undoubtedly would find her but there was always that fear that she would be alone again. She pulled her long coat tighter around her hoping it would keep the rising chill at bay, she couldn't suppress the shudder from the cold feeling that swept over her.  
  
Finally, she came to the stream. It was fast flowing, she remembered seeing somewhere that fast flowing water was usually safe to drink and that was what was important to her. She reached down and put her hand in the water and drew it back when it almost froze her hand. She smiled and put the bottle in the water, allowing it to fill with the water before pulling it away and putting the other one in. She watched the fast moving water for a moment, sitting down she looked at the peaceful scene. Birds went about their usual business, singing and collecting food. The fish bopped to the surface every now and then. Everything was normal. Just like it should be in a forest at that time of year. It was as if everything that had happened was in another world and had left this part of the forest unaffected by the frightening events.  
  
Fred was disturbed by something moving behind her. She whirled around and was faced with Bob holding another bottle.  
  
"You forgot one." She smiled as Fred stood up and took the bottle. She filled it with water and stood again.  
  
"Is everything alright?" Fred asked cautiously, seeing the look on Bob's face, like she was trying to figure something out.  
  
"It's quiet here isn't it?" She said looking over the stream at a pair of birds dancing close to the water.  
  
"Yeah. So still. It's almost as if nothing's happening." Fred sighed.  
  
"You remember what happened last time. Nothing was changed. Let's hope it was the same in Middle Earth." Fred nodded knowing exactly what she was talking about. Although they were confident everything was the same they couldn't be sure. After all Gollum wasn't there any more, which had to change things. After everything that had would be destroyed by Frodo without the help of Gollum. It would probably be an advantage, not having him around.  
  
**  
  
"Things are different." The white Elf whispered in Elrond's sleep. "You know it, you see it. Things are changing. This is not what I predicted. Something dark takes over the Ring bearer and his companion. I know you have felt it too. We must make sure everything remains the same. You know what must be done, do not be afraid to do it for fear of interfering. Our time is running out." The voice drifted away leaving only the heavy impact of the words on Elrond's mind.  
  
He woke looking around him, knowing what he must do no matter how hard it would be. He would have to go to Earth...  
  
TBC.  
  
A/N: Finally some Middle Earth stuff. Keep reading. And reviewing of course. 


	13. bodies in the woods

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created no matter how hard I wish.  
  
Ch 13 Bodies in the Woods  
  
Bob and Fred rejoined the group with three bottles of fresh water from the stream. David was still nursing his arm whilst Ned was pulling food out of the bags, trying to piece together a broken biscuit. She looked up when they approached but David said nothing but mumbled something about evil creatures, they presumed he was talking about Gollum, who had given up wailing and was picking things up and inspecting curiously hoping to find food hidden under the tiny stones on the ground.  
  
No one was paying any attention to him and he seemed to like that. The rope was still tied firmly around his neck just in case he tried anything. He didn't look too interested in escape though, in fact he was trying to ignore everyone there. He looked away whenever he saw David's angry looks.  
  
Fred sat down and handed a bottle over to Ned before putting one in the pack closest to her, she knew David would insist on carrying it anyway so made sure it was comfortable to carry before looking around her properly. Even away from the stream it seemed quiet. It was like when they sat down the danger temporarily left, it was almost relaxing listening to the birds singing. Although the fear of danger was never far away and the occasional loud noise made her jump.  
  
Bob was also looking into the trees trying to make some sense of what had happened and the strange conversation she had heard the night before. She didn't know what any of it meant but it seemed strangely important, like she should know what it meant. 'Dead'. It was a word she had heard a lot over the past few months and yet it had never troubled her as much as it did now. It was as if there was some hidden meaning behind it that she couldn't see.  
  
One thing she knew for certain was that Fred was in on it somehow; the hushed discussions between her and David had not gone unnoticed. Bob reminded herself to ask Fred about it when they were alone. Maybe she could get some answers. She knew it was no good asking David; she had far more chance of getting the truth out of Fred than him.  
  
Fred wouldn't lie to her. Of that she was sure. But the question still nagged, why hadn't Fred said anything to her already?  
  
Bob's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Ned's voice.  
  
"Are you coming or do you want to stay here alone?" She said, a slight mocking tone in her voice. Bob shook her head and stood up slowly, she swung the pack over her shoulder and caught up with them.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ned asked looking over to her friend. "You look a little... distracted."  
  
"I'm fine, just a lot to think about right now. I see things more clearly. It's hard to explain." Bob shook her head as way of emphasising her point.  
  
"Well, if you want to talk about anything you know that I'm here." Ned smiled as she moved to catch up with David and Fred, whose turn it was to drag Gollum.  
  
Bob nodded knowing that if she voiced her concerns she would regret it if Fred ever found out. She smiled to herself at her suspicions and sped up to catch up with the others who were now talking quite happily about something that happened a while back at school. David was once again listening politely to the conversation, even though he didn't understand what they were really talking about and no doubt thought they were completely mad.  
  
"Isn't that right Bob?" Fred shouted back laughing.  
  
Bob smiled at the sudden change in her friend and rushed forward. "What's that?" She said with a gleam in her eye. Ned was already getting angry at the conversation.  
  
"That time Ned spilt all that stuff down her and..."  
  
"Stop right there." Ned warned giving Fred and angry look but knowing that she couldn't hide the smile any more. "It was not funny." This time she couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Oh trust me from where I was standing it was very funny. Even Gollum thinks so, right Smeagol?" The creature just looked blankly up at her and omitted a slight chuckle. Little did they know that he was already thinking about what they would find next and that was what he was laughing at, not the joke that he hadn't even heard.  
  
"You have to admit Ned that was very funny." Bob laughed at the look on Ned's face. She glanced across at David to find that he was no longer smiling at their joke but looking warily into the forest. She knew that look, something was wrong.  
  
"David, what's wrong?" Bob's voice alerted the others, they stopped laughing and looked at David then into the forest. Everything seemed normal. Seemed normal. Nothing was normal any more, not in this forest anyway.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe it's my imagination. Let's keep moving, the sooner we get out of here the better." He started walking forwards again, wishing he hadn't interrupted the light banter that had been going on between the others. The silence was deafening now, once more they were on edge again. Even Gollum was looking around him wildly as if afraid of what they might find. In actual fact his plan was working perfectly.  
  
They kept walking like this for some time, looking around all the time in the hope they would see something before it attacked them. They had just begun to lighten up when David went crashing into something. Fred screamed as she banged into him and nearly fell over, as did the others, only they were screaming at what they saw in front of them.  
  
Three rotten bodies were hanging from a branch thick branch in a tree, their feet almost a metre off the ground. There were pools of dried blood at their feet with small black flies buzzing around making the most of the free meal. David jumped up and instantly had a knife in his hand waiting for whatever was after them. Something must have killed them and he got the impression that it wasn't too far away.  
  
After quickly scanning the area for any immediate danger he turned his attention back to the bodies. They were still dripping a small amount of blood but the worst of it was on the ground at their feet. The most noticeable and obvious thing about them was that they had no skin, or in one's case only patches of skin. It was like it had been ripped, not cut off and from the look of them no more than a day ago.  
  
The lifeless sockets where the eyes had once been were already beginning to fill with the white creatures from the forest. The flies couldn't be kept at bay so David ignored them as he looked at the bodies. On one there was a finger missing, also deep slashes could be seen despite the lack of skin. Whoever that person was he or shewas tortured and was probably alive as they were skinned.  
  
Fred, Bob and Ned couldn't take their eyes off the bloodied bodies and all three were starting to go pale both at the sight and the smell of the dead things hanging from the tree. They had ropes tied around their necks holding them up, like a noose at a hanging although it was fairly clear that that was not what killed them.  
  
"I'd say they've been here for a day at least." David said walking around them so he could get a view of the whole body, he didn't seem too concerned at the dead bodies, the rest stood where they were quite happy to keep their distance.  
  
"How...what did this?" Ned finally managed to say.  
  
"I have no idea but whatever it was skinned them whilst they were still alive. Slowly and painfully by the looks of it. That can only mean one thing..."  
  
"Torture." Fred cut him off. David nodded but Fred's eyes never left the hanging bodies that she knew would haunt her dreams forever.  
  
"Who are they?" Ned asked.  
  
"A better question. Are they human? I'm guessing they're not those creatures that attacked us, they don't seem like the type who'd let themselves be skinned." Bob said looking at the bodies more with interest than disgust but keeping her distance all the same.  
  
"They look human." David said leaning closer. "They're certainly not the shadows. I don't think they even have skin, it's hard to tell."  
  
"Okay, another question. What could do this?" Bob asked taking a tentative step forward trying to ignore the flies that were buzzing around the bodies.  
  
"I am going to take a guess and say those shadows." Fred said, taking a step back, she didn't want to be anywhere near the things that looked more like aliens than human beings.  
  
"I don't think so. They don't seem like the type to take the time to skin something." David said, looking at her.  
  
"They look like they've been tortured, look at the fingers." Bob said standing right next to the bodies now. They held a morbid fascination for her, she hated the sight and smell, but who did it and what they were over powered the disgust and left room only for intrigue.  
  
"I really don't want to look at the fingers thank you. Can we just get out of here please?" Fred said looking nervously from David to the bushes that surrounded them. "There's something wrong, can't you feel it? Even Gollum knows." She looked down at the creature at the end of the rope. He was rolling on the floor and mumbling something the others couldn't understand. The action unsettled them enough to make them more aware of their surroundings. David once again drew his knife ready for whatever was out there waiting for them.  
  
"We'll go soon Fred, I promise. First we have to find out what killed them. Plus, we can't leave them hanging in the trees. We should cut them down. What if someone finds them?" He said looking respectfully up at the three bodies.  
  
"No one ever comes this far into the forest. They'll be fine. Let's just leave." Fred insisted. She had never liked those horror movies with skinned people and such and seeing them in real life was worse than she imagined.  
  
"We can't just leave them hanging. David's right, someone might find them. How would you feel if some lost kid comes along and walks into three dead and skinned bodies?"  
  
"Fine, just hurry up and cut them down so we can get out of here. I don't like this place. It's creepy."  
  
"You don't believe in all that stuff do you Fred?" Bob asked teasingly.  
  
"No, and I didn't believe that I would ever find skinned corpses in the woods or psychic friends or evil wizards in Middle Earth either but hey it all happened, so forgive me for being a little jumpy." Fred said turning away and dragging an unwilling Gollum with her.  
  
"Fred, don't go too far into the forest, we have no idea what's out there." David warned. Fred waved her hand that she would be fine and went towards the trees, desperate to get away from the smell of death. She sighed when the air was finally cleared of the smell of death and the buzz of swarming flies. She was really starting to hate this forest. It seemed everything was going wrong lately. First there had been the whole torture incident, which she tried to forget but never succeeded. Now dead bodies hanging from trees in a forest where families had picnics and outings. It wasn't right as far as she was concerned and she vowed that she would never go there again once she was out this time. Not that she would have to worry about that if what David said was true.  
  
Bob and Ned took out their own knives and leaned towards the rope, copying David. They were less shy of the bodies now. Somehow they felt they had a duty to cut them down even if it meant getting a little blood on their hands. David was the first to cut through the rope and let the body fall to the ground with a thud. A slight splash of blood fell around him before settling as the flies set to work devouring this new food.  
  
Bob and Ned cut their bodies down seconds after and soon all three were laid side-by-side waiting for nothing.  
  
"Poor people. They were probably innocent." Bob whispered looking down at the two smallest bodies. "You don't think they're children do you? Look at their size. They're small enough. That one looks like an adult though." Bob mused, knowing the others weren't really listening. They agreed that the smallest two looked like children.  
  
"They could just be really small people." David reasoned, not wanting to believe that they had found dead children in the woods.  
  
"Yeah." Bob said dejectedly. She hadn't taken her eyes off the bodies since they found them. There was something still troubling her about them. Like something wasn't right but she didn't know what it was. It was frustrating but there was nothing she could do about it. It annoyed her that her new found psychic powers were so hard to interpret. She wished they were clearer.  
  
"Bob, is something wrong?" Ned asked looking over at her friend who appeared deep in thought.  
  
"No. I was just thinking. There's something wrong here and I don't know what it is."  
  
"You mean besides the dead hanging bodies?" Ned said trying to keep her tone serious although she couldn't help it sounding more like a joke than it was meant to be. "Sorry." She said when she got angry looks from both David and Bob.  
  
"I mean there's something else wrong, something out of place, not normal. I don't know what it is though. Maybe it's just the smell and this thick air that's causing it. I think Fred had the right idea, let's get out of here before we get any more surprises."  
  
Both nodded and followed Bob out of the tiny clearing into the direction they had seen Fred go off. David took the time to cover the bodies with some leaf litter from the floor, making sure it was obvious there was still something there but at the same time giving a little cover to the degrading bodies. Like Bob said, if a child found them...  
  
They found Fred sitting down with her face in her hands, when she looked up she was pale, her face shone with tears. Gollum was just sat next to her, more like a dog than the creature he was. David was instantly by her side, he threw his arms around her and she moved into his touch.  
  
"What's wrong? Fred I'm sorry you had to see that. I know it was upsetting, I should have seen them. I'm sorry." He whispered, trying to comfort her as best he could although from the slight shaking of her body it wasn't working very well.  
  
"It's not the bodies. Well, it is but not in the way you think." Fred tried to explain.  
  
"What do you mean?" David didn't loosen his grip on her. She looked over at Bob and Ned who were watching the two.  
  
"We should go and find some food, make sure this place is safe. I could really use some rest. Right Ned?" Bob said hinting that Fred and David should be left alone.  
  
Ned didn't get it though. "I think we should stick together. It's safer."  
  
"Now Ned." Bob said firmly pulling her away. "God, you just don't get it." She whispered as they walked away.  
  
"What?" Ned asked innocently. Bob laughed and sighed at Ned's comment.  
  
**  
  
"Now will you tell me what's wrong? I know you want to tell them the truth but it's not time yet." David said, seriously looking at Fred  
  
"No it's not that. But I haven't been entirely truthful with you. You remember last night in the woods when I woke up? You asked if there was something wrong and I said no." David nodded. "I lied. I had a nightmare but it was more than that. It was real but not. It's hard to explain. It had you in it. You were calling for me to help you. You were frightened and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get to you. I couldn't help you and you carried on screaming..." Fred started crying again, unable to keep the images from her head any longer. "Every time I sleep I see more of the dream. It's trying to tell me something I just don't know what it is."  
  
"Fred, it's alright. It was just a nightmare. We all get them. I know I do. After everything that happened in Orthanc I'm not surprised." David reassured quietly, trying his best to comfort her. He didn't know why but he couldn't dismiss this as just another nightmare. If Fred said there was something wrong he knew he should believe her.  
  
"No it's different than those dreams. I've had those nightmares but this is more real and it's not remembering what happened. I think it's what could have happened."  
  
"Fred, I know that everything is happening very quickly but you have to remember that we're safe. Do you really think I'd ever let anything happen to you? I love you and I would die for you if you asked me to. I already have once." He smiled.  
  
"That's exactly what I don't want. David I lost you once I don't want to lose you again, I don't care what happened. Even though I know it's a dream it still seems so real and I hate it."  
  
"You think it's like a premonition?" He asked.  
  
"No, I'm not psychic, I'm not Bob but there is something wrong. Maybe you're right, perhaps it is just memories from Orthanc but there is something else. Something more threatening." Fred said trying to remember something that she could tell David about.  
  
"Like I said, I'd never let anything happen to you. Never. I promise you're safe as long as I'm here." He smiled and pulled her closer once more.  
  
"I know. Thank you. I know I haven't exactly been patient. I could never repay you for everything you've done for me. In Middle Earth and here." She smiled and let her head rest against his shoulder.  
  
"Come on, we should get moving again before your friends get impatient. I have no doubt they are tired of...listening to our private conversations." He shouted towards the direction where Ned and Bob were hiding behind the trees.  
  
Fred couldn't help laughing at the way they skulked out like children found doing something bad.  
  
"We weren't listening. Like he said we were just impatient."  
  
"You weren't listening yet somehow you managed to magically hear exactly what David said? Your psychic powers are really improving Bob." Fred tried to keep a stern face but it wasn't working very well. She couldn't help but remember what she they had done when they were back in school, always listening to one another whenever someone else had something to say. Fred missed that. Ned hadn't been there and she wasn't exactly talking freely to Bob a lot of the time. She just hoped that things would return to how they were or better.  
  
Somehow though that dream was still so far away, like it was something she wanted but could never achieve. She didn't know whether the others were thinking of the same things but they all looked slightly distracted when she looked back at them, all but David who was looking nervously at Gollum who was crouched at his feet looking pleadingly up at him, something they had never seen the creature do before. Something was out there. Before Fred could think any more about it something grabbed hold of her and she felt the cold blade of a knife at her neck. When she looked around she found that her friends were in the same situation although David was giving a good fight and lashing out with his knife.  
  
Eventually all of them had to give up including David who still continued to struggle with the person holding him. When one placed a knife to Fred's neck and drew a little bright red blood he stopped struggling and allowed the person holding him to tie his hands with the same hard rope that bound the others. He knew he couldn't risk anyone getting hurt, especially not Fred, the person he had just vowed to protect.  
  
When they were all tied up the figures moved silently away, pulling their charges alone roughly behind them. They ignored all the protests from the four travellers and just continued walking, seemingly knowing exactly where they were going. It was like they saw a path that the others didn't; no one dared to say anything though. When Bob had tried to ask something she had received a hard blow to the head causing her to sway unsteadily but the person holding her made sure she kept walking no matter how much she protested. Finally they all did as they were instructed and walked trying to ignore the slight pain the ropes that bound their wrists caused.  
  
Fred couldn't help but notice that they tied David's a little tighter than the rest of them. Maybe it was because of the earlier attack but that didn't make sense, they were obviously much stronger than he was and yet they seemed afraid of him.  
  
"Where are you taking us?" Bob finally asked, a little cautiously.  
  
"That is not your concern human." The one nearest to her snarled back. Bob knew they had to try and get away. She looked over at Fred who was looking straight ahead of her and trying to focus on where they were going. Suddenly she had an idea.  
  
"We have to stop. Fred's not well, she needs rest." Bob looked over at Fred who had looked up at the mention of her name. She nodded to her friend who was looking very confused by now. Fred looked away and Bob assumed that meant she didn't understand.  
  
"We're not stopping human." The leader (Bob assumed) shouted.  
  
"Fine, then just tell us who you are, don't we at least have the right to know that?" Bob asked, taking full advantage of the situation.  
  
"You have no rights now you're with us. But just to let you know that we are The Young Ones and you will address us with the proper respect."  
  
"The young ones, as in the T.V show?" Bob said, knowing she would regret it. Fred and Ned heard this and couldn't help but laugh. They stopped when they saw the looks on the leader's face.  
  
"Look, please, all joking aside my friend needs rest." Bob said, making her voice as serious as possible.  
  
"Do I look like I care?" The same one snarled back.  
  
"You will care when she can't walk any further." Bob said, hoping reason would overcome their cruelty.  
  
By now they had all stopped and were looking back at the commotion. David was looking at Fred, worry etched on his face, he had heard what Bob had said but obviously hadn't picked up that it was a trick.  
  
"It's hardly surprising I guess, after what that wizard did to them." The leader smiled and shouted for them to start moving again. Before Bob was pulled back into line she glanced over at Fred and nodded her head, she knew what Fred was thinking and just hoped they would buy it.  
  
Bob smiled slightly as she was roughly pulled back into line, which was slowly beginning to move again. Ned looked behind her and smiled at Bob, she had caught onto the plan and hoped, like Bob, that it would work and they wouldn't just carry on. If Fred couldn't walk they would have to stop and rest giving them time to plan and hopefully conduct their escape. Fred and Bob had managed to get out of Orthanc so how hard could a bunch of...whatever they were...be to fool? They would soon find out.  
  
They walked along quietly for some time just looking around them and trying to figure out where the people were taking them. They weren't having much luck, one part of the forest seemed pretty much the same as another to them. Only the black robed people and Gollum knew where they were going.  
  
Fred looked around her and checked that they weren't concentrating solely on her. She smiled to herself and coughed loudly, signalling to Bob that she was ready to play her part in the plan. Bob coughed back quietly so as not to attract attention. Fred nodded to herself and hoped the others knew what was going on.  
  
She suddenly fell to the floor and cried out. Instantly they all stopped, the young ones looked around and then down at Fred who was crying out on the floor. Bob and Ned smiled briefly at Fred's performance before taking on their own roles. David, however, was completely unaware that anything was planned. All he saw was Fred falling to the floor screaming. He stood paralysed for a second before he began his struggle with the person holding him.  
  
Bob and Ned were having better luck. They had persuaded their captors to let them help their friend. Bob pulled away and knelt down next to Fred.  
  
"What's wrong? Fred, talk to me." Bob said frantically, hoping her acting was up to scratch. "Fred?"  
  
"Hurry up and get her up." The leader said impatiently.  
  
"She's not well." Bob said looking up at them angrily.  
  
"What's wrong with her then." By this time Fred's screams had died down slightly and she just lay there watching what was going on and trying to keep the pained expression on her face, even though that wasn't too hard now, when she fell to the ground she had managed to disturb one of the many cuts still on her back. At least she knew it was worth it, or at least it would be when they escaped.  
  
"I don't know. Let David have a look at her. Come on you can't leave her like this, it'll take less time if you just untie us and let us help her. You don't want to carry her do you?" At that point Fred let out a fake moan of pain just to emphasize Bob's point.  
  
"There are too many of us for you to escape." One of the young ones pondered more to himself than any one else although the comment sent a rumble of agreement through the rest of them.  
  
"We can't escape with Fred like this anyway. Come on, I'm sure you sleep as well."  
  
"We're not stopping for the night." One shouted.  
  
"We might not have a choice. When Fred gets sick it can take a while for her to recover. If we stopped now she'd probably be better by tomorrow. In the long run it would save you time." Bob said trying to sound genuine. Yet another soft moan made them agree.  
  
"Fine. Set up a camp and make it fast. We stay here tonight and first thing in the morning we leave whether she's better or not. Untie them, but make sure they have a guard with them. Don't let them out of your sight. And tie that pathetic creature up." The leader shouted pointing at Gollum.  
  
The person holding onto David reluctantly cut the rope around his hands before letting him go to Fred who was laying on the floor. He still had no idea what was going on and bent down to help Fred who was still putting on a pretty good display. Immediately he began fussing over her, until Bob realised he didn't know what was going on.  
  
"Fred's fine." Bob whispered quietly hoping those things couldn't hear.  
  
"What?" David questioned looking down at Fred who had a slight smile on her face. "Don't do that, you scared me. I thought something was..." David stopped himself realised several of their captors were looking at him. "I thought something was wrong when we came here. Why didn't you tell me?" Ned, who had now joined them smiled at his good attempt to recover from his mistake.  
  
At least they were free of their ropes. Now all they had to do was find some way of getting away from their captors without being noticed. All three immediately looked to Bob to come up with a plan, something she hadn't even thought about yet.  
  
** 


End file.
